Los Angeles…by the numbers

10 minutes on foot
can be an hour by car
but in this heat?
don’t be ridiculous!

9 nurse's aides
each wheel
an elderly patient
out on the veranda
to enjoy the sunset

8 elderly patients
get wheeled back
to the dining room
one less mouth
to feed tonight

7 teen girls
smile slyly
wickedly
each thinking
if only
the others
knew what
I did

6 fat white cops put
a skinny black kid
in handcuffs
they feel safe
so he is safe

5 lawyers
wait to file
paperwork
they know
this is all
bullshit
but
they also know
their clients
don’t know
that

4 swinger wives
chat in the kitchen
about kids and school
in a few minutes
they’ll return
to the hot tub
to screw
each others’ mates
but right now
it’s strictly PTA

3 stray cats
rest under
the overpass
safe from
heat and
coyotes
later tonight
if the coroner
isn’t called
they’ll nibble on
the homeless junkie
who o.d.ed
the night before
(hey, a cat’s
gotta eat…)

2 suburbanites
eye the same  
parking space  
in the old West
they would duke
it out
but in the
here and now
they will
probably
just shoot
each other

1 phony nurse  
at a prime location  
on the sidewalk
stands resolute by a  
bogus charity bowl
trying to guilt  
extra cash
from customers
spending too much
on health food 

0 angels on the 405
and demons on the 10
if you want
to get anywhere
you deal with
the devil
in one form
or another

© Buzz Dixon