los angeles, I’m yours

Los angeles, how I love and hate you so

car after car in gridlock traffic, the whole world around you consumed only in themselves

and that grey pavement, littered with grime, covering everything that could be beautiful.

slow walks along a street lined with the small businesses of the suburbs, trees all trimmed in the same stupid shapes.

but sometimes that sunshiny dry heat feels so nice, like the sun is handing you vitality, the only way to take it in is through your skin.

I like the way cactus looks in the sunset light, those spines ever tempting.

I wish I could show you my version of the world, how I grew up in this sometimes horrible, sometimes wonderful place.

It’s hard to describe to anyone who hasn’t breathed in the smog and wished for better.

but also loved the constellations made in the city nights

or stayed up all night in the hot dry summer air sipping on sweet drinks, drunk on all that comes with being young

los angeles you are the structure on which I built my youth

how I love and hate you so.