Pasadena

heavy crafted homes
low and squat
one hundred years
on oak tree
streets many were
blighted but now
there are mahogany
or deep red
doors heavy drapes
drawn against bright
sky windows shut
out hot desert
wind close purple
mountains shaded trails
beckon do they
notice the wide
porches are now
vacant the warm
arid climate too
warm and arid
my home town

Redondo Beach after Patti Smith

no one to look for
Redondo Beach was
sand in bologna
sea creatures coming
out of big dredge pipes
that girl was there

no not that one day
no hearse and no shock
dismal ladies
always were there
that girl is gone yes
down by the ocean
starfish and jelly
that girl has died

Redondo Beach
another dimension
waves blur the dismal
down by the sea
water on blonde hair
sand in bologna
sat on a blanket
saturdays there

no hearse on this day
black and white pictures
women all sitting
wearing sunglasses
who’s in the water
look at her blonde hair
no more soft creatures
waves blur the dismal
gone gone away

1982 at The Bird House on 5th & Main

In 2003 the Los Angeles City Council designated formerly known “Skid Row” as “Gallery Row”

when the artists took over pigeons lived there
I paid $200 a month for a big empty space
and toilet down the hall
some of the artists were junkies
when I got home late I smudged off my makeup
hid my jewelry
and practically ran to the loft
I got many parking tickets on Winston St.
I had a party for my sister
people lit firecrackers and climbed the fire escapes
it pissed off the junkies
I got a tattoo around the corner
we wrote poem graffiti on the walls
had sex on the roof
hip cafes would have been good
we could have panhandled

The Los Angeles River of Desire

The Los Angeles River of Desire

It is a real river and against
what you would think
it does not desire water,
it has that.

It does not desire a concrete bottom, concrete banks
or mostly wonderful graffiti,
it has that.

It does not desire baseballs from Dodger Stadium
or horse manure from Los Feliz stables or cast off condoms
from it’s many lovers.
It has that.

It does not desire 400 tributaries
It does not desire being the boundary
between LA and the Eastside
it has that.

It does not desire a group
that is trying to release it
from it’s manmade constraints,
it has that.

The Los Angeles River
does not desire desire.
It has that.