These are the days of Marmont
Sky Bar and Trocadero
Where men compete and win with more dinero
A shrinking conscience balanced only by a growing erection
Where girls compete with equally shrinking character
Crushed by deception

Growing with lackluster personalities
In a town notorious for being ready for its close up
And ne’er an eyebrow raised for certain inequalities
Best known for a treasure trove of dreams
Yet still some always give up it seems

That may be Hollywood to some
But, not  L.A.
My city shines and spreads it wings
Like the angels it eponymously claims

The real shining lights are not those on Sunset
Nor those dotting the mcmansion on the Hollywood Hills
Of that mogul gracing the latest cover of Celebrity

The real lights shine from parks - Griffith onto McArthur and Echo
From the factories of American Apparel
to the Mozza kitchen
Round the L.A. Mission
To pristine mansion marble floors
Scrubbed so, so sterile

Lights in some eyes have gone out
At Olive View
And LA. County jail
At the factories of Wonder Bread
Or Vermont and 92^nd street
Where yours truly was raised

But, not in this girl
Not yet
Not ever

From the RTD to SAMOHI
From the Fairfax Market
And the now weekly jaunts across Mulllholland
Runyon and Fryman

This girl here
Is in touch and connected
Eyes lit brightly
Feet firmly planted
This girl here
She has learned
take nothing
nothing for granted

-haven

(Art by Haven, taken at Runyon Canyon 2011)