Michaelann Dimitrijevich Black and White, Maxim Press: San Luis Obispo, CA, 1996 (Inscribed To Terri With Love Michaelann, Jan. 4, 97; purchased at the Ocean Park Library, April 2005)
Lost Angeles
City of the angels
in the devil's grip
hip, slick and cool pagans
blatantly defy
the First Commandment
worshipping and bowing
to false gods of gold
and crisp green paper.
Daydreaming drivers
dialing cellulars
oblivious to sirens
and drive-by shootings
and car-jackings
while jack-hammers thrust
in and out, in and out,
to erect a subway
no one will use.
Contaminated sidewalks
littered with sideways glances
of pushers pulling in big bucks
while beggars squat
cup in hand
coining phrases of salvation.
They know not what they do.