Some Poems I Wrote in the Aftermath of Los Angeles

Connecticut, 2003

Sunset

Waving goodbye to my friends down the street

Like the end of an episode of Pokémon

Not knowing

It was the last time

Los Angeles, 2023

In this desert city

This sea of cars

Human connection

Is a mirage

Cringing About Begging For a Hollywood Connection to Help Package a Movie Deal That Never Materialized

To [redacted]

When I think back to our last texts

I’m filled with shame

I was broke and desperate

I caved to pressure from 

[redacted]

I dishonored our friendship

I I’m I I I

I’m sorry.

Palo Alto Youth

In the shadow of the tall tree

In the light of the screens

In the maze of the dreams

We live

Untitled

Pages and pages flapping in the wind

Unfolding from nowhere

Crowding out the desert air

I reach, but there’s too much to read

My mouth is stuffed with paper and ink

I rip out the page

And another swoops in to take its place

And another smacks across my eyes

And another and another seal my ears

Reeling back I claw at the words, at their crinkled emissaries

And topple into the sand

Soaked with blood

El Marino, 2023

On the last day of school

The kids laughed about mistakes on mistakes

As they built and rebuilt 

Waterbottle boats with toy motors

Propellers misaligned

Sailing in circles amongst fallen leaves and

Traffic cones they’d thrown

In the deep puddle

On the slanted astroturf

After heavy rain