the whole show suddenly
decided to come to an end
unexpectedly the boredom
of Los Angeles became unbearable
everyone had finally had
enough of sex drugs and money
and their various
permutations and combinations
not even the desire to
murder someone and run away
seemed to retain any of
its oldtime charm
everyone stayed alone in
their hotel rooms
condominiums and
cardboard boxes
or parked their cars and
everything stopped moving
around except of course the LAPD
which officially reported
the city was unusually calm
and took advantage of the
event by giving each other
unused tickets and
summons designed for new years eve violations
the weather was sunny and
agreeable
but the telephones no
longer ring
the panhandlers no langer
cared enough to hustle
the buses ran on time
with no one on board
there were no worthwhile
tragedies on the late news shows
the newspaper reporters
did not know how to
describe the situation
except as “unusual and
ominous”
no children were born
that day
and no one bothered to
die
get married or divorced
or even flush the toilet
I stayed in my room that
day
weighing the consequences
of the catastrophe
between short dreamless
naps
and wondered whether
escape was still possible
and if so where to and
how and with whom
and why or why not
in the evening dark
I telephoned the last
remaining LA girl
prostitute
her phone was busy for
hours
then a recorded
announcement
informed me that the girl
and phone
were out of order
until further notice
It was suggested instead
that I contact the
nearest
church or synagogue of my
choice
since I could not bring
myself
to make an appropriate
selection
I decided to construct a
gigantic enema bag out of
old plastic and insert it
into the anus of the city
the task kept me occupied
until the arrival of dawn
I looked out my hotel
room window
and saw to my surprise
that everything had
returned to normal
the buses were running
sex drugs & money
meant everything to
everyone once more
children were being
murdered once again
the gunfire could be
heard everywhere
I cheered to myself in
joy
IT’S GONNA BE ANOTHER
GREAT YEAR IN LA
and wondered who
I wanted to
fuck or get fucked by
on new years eve
I set myself a hundred
dollar limit
but knew with happy
certainty
that I could spend
everything I had
without having a bad time
life was real once more
and therefore I was too
and so was Los Angeles
the best of all possible
worlds
holds us again in its embrace
and I was still on the
annual vacation
I took from the factory
and
had enough money left for
everything
I had planned to buy
after all
since all the prostitutes
could be telephoned again
and the drug dealers
stood
on the corner
what obstacle could possibly
arise
to individual happiness
I left my room
to descend once more
into the life
of Los Angeles
at the end of another
year
near centurys end
I was still alive
much to my surprise
so I rolled a joint
counted my money
and wondered
who was selling it
who was buying it
and where I really stood
on these matters
after all
there was now
one less year to go
I supposed
therefore there was no
time to waste
All
material: Copyright © Big Step Down 2000.