lost in los angeles
av Francesca Lia Block

running from the green-eyed lady
i got lost on the freeway in l.a.

i saw the mexican markets
i saw the train tracks
i saw the old bridge and the cement river
i saw the vast expanse of grayness
leading nowhere
i saw a dog zigzag thirsty

i thought of the woman with her eyes
   like cold green glass
and her smirking smile
how she tried to eat my boyfriend and my mentor
   and my house

i thought, what has happened to my city
with its roses and angels?
i thought, what has happened to my boyfriend
who was bowling with miss green eyes
   just the day before?

after she ate his heart
he handed mine to her on a china plate
just like the one she used to serve him meat
in my vegetarian kitchen
and then left

so i dug in my purse for my cell phone
and i called my friends
sara and sera and maria
and they looked at maps and told me
   which way to turn
and they helped guide me home

it is good to see the sadness of my city
without roses without angels except the ones
   disguised as your girlfriends
it is good to get lost in her
it is even good to let envy hold her heart
   in her mouth
but if you don't give in to her my darlings
she will release you
she will spit you out