Day 82. Autobiography.

"Don't tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass." -- Anton Chekhov

here it is:
my dirty city, my
strung together suburbs like christmas tree lights city, my
neon signs up all night city, my
roadside attraction city, my
isolation city, my
strip clubs next to middle schools city, my
black magic city with young blood, young bones--
my air conditioned buses leaking freon city, my
city of a thousand movements.
my city of women on the beach who sell chopped
mangoes with lemon and chili powder and my
city of whatever lives under the pier, my
frontier city breathing santa ana winds, my
"meek wives with carving knives" city , my
"garbled vomit on the shore" city.
i'm yours,
my city with sneaky seasons. my
city of tour buses and eleven million languages
one for everyone get your own today only 9.99 call now-- my
city of lost cats and found dachshunds.
my city wanting so hard, my
sleek and waxy city like the clementines that come in crates each winter.
underneath is the leathery skin,
pins and needles smell of citrus
the shade of groves--
that past is long gone, what could it mean to my
fifteen seconds of fame city? my
planes for shooting stars city, my
scribbled notes found crumpled in parking lots city, my
sweet disposition-ed downtown buildings city, my
high-up curlicued stone city, my
monsoon melodrama city, my
union station city with spanish tiles and sunshine. my
neighbor's pungent gingko tree city, my
city of droughts and floods and sidewalks sanded with broken glass.
my hallways of ficuses and palms city, my
pilgrimage city. my amnesiac city, my
city of myth, my
city where we worship
people who pretend to be heroes on a screen. my
seizing grin city, my song on the radio city, my
curving prows of silver ships echoing centuries of oceanic crescendoes city, my
roach coach city of deliciousity. my
city of postage stamp gardens and potted hopes. my
opinionated city, my grandmother's city when she
worked as the telephone operator-- connecting
one angeleno to another like los angeles itself.