Before It Was Torn Down
I’m 18 and she’s 21
Our first traveling date
The Long Beach Pier, old Queen's Pike
November 19, 1977
I've never been
on a roller coaster before
We strap in one that circles
t
h
i
s
w
a
y
It’s called The Hammer
Then we lean in
The Bobsled Run
around and
around and around and
around and
I scream She screams
We hold on tight We get off
I stagger
About 11 feet away
my stomach comes out
thru
my
mouth
So much for the date
She escorts me slowly to my car
A big '63 Buick
with vinyl brown benches
I lie in the back
ghostly
She talks to me
leaning over the front
seat
We marry
shortly thereafter
And divorce
almost as quickly
She becomes a nurse
And I'm still reeling
out poems
Downtown
Los Angeles is
the shallowest pit
in hell
where tormented
souls lie
on gray sidewalks
half alive
below
tall
money scrapers
tie tied workers
drive by
to participate
deals go down
like prostitutes
in public
restrooms as
the red sun
rises again
to shine on
the territorial
pissing
those demented
mind
gamers
try to stop
the idleness
of being
directionless
on one-way streets
when everyone
knows
this is
erehwon
the place
to find
your personal
demon
quaking
at all
the wreckage
sleeping against
suburban
SUV parking
garages conveniently
priced so high
near Broadway
pawn shops
the dress
code is black
skin
or clothes
that hide
needled holes found
magical
as love
within hearts
looking for
fallen angels
who want to die
Upside
Down
The ceiling is the floor
The floor is the ceiling
Look up at the carpet
Stand on stucco
The furniture is too high
Step up through the door
Fall into the sky
Observe streets above
Amazing how cars and trees hang there
And planes and clouds swim in lower blue
Say goodbye to the wet welkin
Gaze down to the only void
Keep falling to be surrounded by black
Giant marbles all around float along
Now up is no longer relevant
But the existence of a soul still important
Before It Was Torn Down works hard, delivers the movie of the dater and the date at The Pike. I think I really like this, Don. Even though I'm not a fan of puke and post puke love. I often think about The Pike, and Buicks. This works for me. Thanks for the movie.
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