Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts

Saturday, 28 September 2019

LA River


[[ A list/sequence/geography song - based on an old police photo (1955) of a man's body lying under an LA bridge, plus the route of the LA River down to the Pacific. The blood flows under the bridges and people gather under the bridges. The last part is the healing, coming together from the atoms up. ]]

on a concrete bed
between concrete walls
what's left of a river
shines in the sun

on a concrete bed
between concrete walls
what's left of a man

stares into the sun

if ever a man
ever had any blood
it has all run away
down the LA River

under the bridges of Chinatown
under the bridges of Boyle Heights
under the bridges of Vernon
under the bridges of Bell Gardens
under the bridges of South Gate
under the bridges of Compton
under the bridges of Long Beach
under the bridges and into the bay

cool water comes down from the mountains 
cool water comes down from the clouds 
filling the river - hydrogen oxygen hydrogen
clinging together - hydrogen oxygen hydrogen

Monday, 23 September 2019

it's always dangerous

[[ After looking at pictures of James Dean's wrecked car. ]]

it's always dangerous
to live in the 50s

typewritten testimony 
death certificate

some unincorporated
part of California

where turnip seed and
spider intersect

keep your eyes peeled
out on antelope road

a spider cartwheeling over the desert