Dear L.A.

By Shirley Obitz

Take an armchair drive through The City of Angels from the San Gabriel Valley to the Beach in this soon-to-be classic collection of L.A. poems. Dear L.A. is for those who live in L.A. and for those who have only visited. A mosaic of poetry as sprawling as the city itself, transitioning from the elegant days of old Hollywood to broken Boulevard dreams, from the Zoot Suit riots to the Rodney King riots and the dark and dangerous downtown of the 1970s. You will visit spots along the PCH and enter the iconic Phillippe's in downtown. This collection of poems about The City of Angels are mini vignettes that capture with honesty and beauty vintage L.A.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shirley Obitz
• Release date: Dec 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224116898

Book preview

Aren’t You Glad You Left?

Aren't you glad you left?

That place is (fill in the blank)

I was there once, and I hated it. 

Everyone there is so (fill in the blank) 

So much hatred

So much prejudice

But let me ask you this, I say

Did you watch a movie last year?

Do you listen to music?

Someday a big Santa Ana wind will come and blow all the scum off the street.

Dear L.A.

It hurt my feelings

They didn’t even know you

Everyone put you down

Said you were phony

Said you were sleazy

I remember going to your triple feature

at thirteen

for a dollar

Putting my hands in Marilyn’s at the Grauman’s

Standing in line at ABC to see the tapings

Walking down Fountain Avenue

To the smell of blooming jasmine

Hopping on the freeway to the Valley

Urban sprawl, screen doors, and BBQ

Or I’d take Wilshire to the beach

Western to the Airport

(little-known way to avoid the gridlock)

Ah, your view from Mulholland

Low riders crawling down Whittier Boulevard

East LA, the shine of the classic clean machine

Bouncing shocks

Bulging muscles

Pachuca flair

Alvarado Street

New religions

Firsts of firsts

Langer and The Pantry

The Ambassador, as old and in decay as you were then

I felt I was