They say to live here you must have a car.
Amid this mesh of steel and cold concrete,
you can go without—you just won’t get far.
Freeways are slow, but biking is a feat.
Boosters were wrong: Despite expectation,
from downtown to the beach could take all day.
It’s not the journey; it’s the destination.
But sometimes living life gets in the way.
Just learn some tricks from pros of L.A. lanes,
to save yourself from traffic’s thick morass.
This street avoid, the knowing one explains.
You weave, you merge, you signal, turn, and pass.

Where are you going—ocean or mountain?
If you can, at least partway, take Fountain.

This entry was posted on February 6, 2007 and is filed under los angeles, writing.