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bsquirrel
Deputy Moderator 5 Tours
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855


0 posted 2000-06-21 01:17 AM


What is los angeles?
Is it a deathly dance in purple and gold confetti --
Kicking up the dirt that sticks like dust,
Warmed by fire under a whistle and siren night?

What is los angeles?
On which page of which map by which company
Will it all be spelled out -- the noodle strings
Of freeways, streets?
A place that sells faces like mirrors,
Beverly Hills like a surgeon's razor,
Your identity.

I imagine the Hollywood sign crumbled off its hill like a dead Vine.
H leans against a building like a broken ladder.
O is a life saver. An alien manhole cover.
L's are discarded boomerangs hurled through windows.
Y is some idiot's approximation of a penis. A vagina.
W looks like an M to Me.
O's are infinity. Two empty eyes.
D crashes through a methamphetamine lab with a smile. A frown.
An expression detached of face or function.

What is los angeles?
Kids who find clubs that are Saturday evening, Sunday worship,
A welcome relief from having to find their way in the dark?
The sound of bullets aimed expertly, vacantly, into skulls somewhere on Pico?

Was it the night we all wore the same color under the glow of a vacuum tube?
(I would like to comb my hair. Please cast my reflection in your riot helmet)

Have you seen the flavors of ice cream at your local Baskin-Robbins?
You can get them topped with painkillers. It's called California Calm.
Do you like sex? There's Promiscuously Empty.
Do you like punishment? There's Celibately Alone.
There's many more flavors, in several gradations, varying complexities,
But please disregard them --
We want to make a movie about this someday.

When god is looking over his creation, does he stare extra hard at us?
Are his sighs earthquakes? His refusal of tears droughts?
Does he pop our lives into his VCR, wonder at our creation?
Wonder at his?

I can't answer.

What is los angeles?
It's a place I love so much I hate it; a place I can't bear to hate.
You understand, I'm sure.
We all have our wings clipped at least once in this state.



[This message has been edited by bsquirrel (edited 06-21-2000).]

© Copyright 2000 MPC - All Rights Reserved
Janet Marie
Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554

1 posted 2000-06-21 09:07 AM


I imagine the Hollywood sign crumbled off its hill like a dead Vine.
H leans against a building like a broken ladder.
O is a life saver. An alien manhole cover.
L's are discarded boomerangs hurled through windows.
Y is some idiot's approximation of a penis. A vagina.
W looks like an M to Me.
O's are infinity. Two empty eyes.
D crashes through a methamphetamine lab with a smile. A frown.
An expression detached of face or function.

What is los angeles?
Kids who find clubs that are Saturday evening, Sunday worship,
A welcome relief from having to find their way in the dark?
The sound of bullets aimed expertly, vacantly, into skulls somewhere on Pico?

Was it the night we all wore the same color under the glow of a vacuum tube?
(I would like to comb my hair. Please cast my reflection in your riot helmet)

Have you seen the flavors of ice cream at your local Baskin-Robbins?
You can get them topped with painkillers. It's called California Calm.
Do you like sex? There's Promiscuously Empty.
Do you like punishment? There's Celibately Alone.
There's many more flavors, in several gradations, varying complexities,
But please disregard them --
We want to make a movie about this someday.

When god is looking over his creation, does he stare extra hard at us?
Are his sighs earthquakes? His refusal of tears droughts?
Does he pop our lives into his VCR, wonder at our creation?
Wonder at his?

I can't answer.

What is los angeles?
It's a place I love so much I hate it; a place I can't bear to hate.
You understand, I'm sure.
We all have our wings clipped at least once in this state.
----------------

so...
when did you get a job working for the Cali-board of tourism  
me thinks they wont be including this in the brochure ...
but then truth hurts dont it...
even when said
with love, and awe...

deep deep you are my friend ...
very cool...

>>What is los angeles?
Kids who find clubs that are Saturday evening, Sunday worship,
A welcome relief from having to find their way in the dark?<<

love that verse... and the one about God watching us on his VCR...
oh that bsq mind...I just love it

later-M-gator
bs/jm



SEA
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 5 Tours
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 2000-01-18
Posts 22676
with you
2 posted 2000-06-21 09:21 AM


Mike~ Ya know, I get this, it makes perfect sense to me......now, Sacramento isn't quite that extreme, but it's getting closer every day. Thank goodness I don't live directly in the valley. Awesome poem!   -SEA

Live,Love,Laugh :) ~SueB



Mike
Member Elite
since 1999-06-19
Posts 2462

3 posted 2000-06-21 10:04 AM


Interesting read. Enjoyed.
serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

4 posted 2000-06-21 03:49 PM


i've heard many descriptions of L.A.--but this one was by far the best and made the most sense to me...

You are definitely home, Mike...and man o man gotta get me some of that Baskin and Robbins, (I thought N.O. was nuts with drive-through Daquiri Shops)  Loved it.

Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA
5 posted 2000-06-21 05:23 PM


Raw power here, Mike, especially after this past week. You've got a ton of great imagery packed into this one. Good thing it's the City of Angels. Imagine if it's name was Los Diablitos  

Impotence is Nature's way of saying "no hard feelings".

Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774
Ontario, Canada
6 posted 2000-06-21 09:35 PM


"Are his sighs earthquakes? His refusal of tears droughts?"

"It's a place I love so much I hate it; a place I can't bear to hate."

I think I've said WOW a few times lately to you Mike ... mind if I say again?  I've only been to LA in the movies, but feel like I've just had the grand tour now!  Thanks for the whirlwind trip ... you're a marvelous tour guide!  

Best wishes,
/Kit

bsquirrel
Deputy Moderator 5 Tours
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-01-03
Posts 7855

7 posted 2000-06-21 11:38 PM


Thanks, everyone. I wanted to write a poem about the greatest love/hate relationship of them all. Well, at least for me.   Long live this crazy mess.

Mike

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