Becoming a California

for Trina Duke

I do not belong to any tribe,
not even my own; I do not belong
to the mid-Atlantic, where they fashion
dignity into a straight-jacket; I do not belong
to the war, or to the party, or to the streets,
and I am not a Croatian, and I am not
a Christian, and I am not yours.

I am becoming a California–
Within is a Hollywood & Vine,
a Haight Ashbury, a Eureka redwood,
all pulsing inside me, like good vibrations
in a Sunset studio, where they are strumming

The Mailbox That Vanished, And Other Tales

Reflections on the Los Feliz That Was

The first thing I loved about the neighborhood of Los Feliz was the unexpected effect of dropping an envelope holding a short story of mine into the mailbox at the …