the Thirty Mile Zone in poetry

tom petty once said “it’s a long day living in Reseda with a freeway running through the yard”
soul coughing once said “we are all in some way or another going to Reseda someday to die”
for a couple of years I myself lived in what some people called Reseda
some said it was actually Tarzana
but in Los Angeles the neighborhoods change from block to block and day to day
depending on what’s hip this week and what sells the best

if there’s money to be made any house will change its name
faster than Norma Jean became Marilyn Monroe
faster than Karen Johnson became Whoopi Goldberg
if I didn’t live in Reseda I certainly lived in Schrodinger’s Reseda
Tarzana or Reseda on any given day
depending when you opened up a real estate guide
that’s how it works there
your name is whatever profits you most and you can get away with
so of course I lived in Reseda for a couple of years

the point here is tom petty was right
soul coughing was right
everything ever said about Los Angeles has always been right
even the things that contradict each other are right
especially the things that contradict each other
those things are especially right in Los Angeles

it becomes whatever you want it to be
whatever you need it to be then whatever it does to you
the names can change easily but you will stay the same
whatever you brought to pay the fee is whatever Los Angeles will be

so it’s a long day when you’re on the freeway running through the yard
on the way to fuck a model in Reseda
or for Reseda to fuck you or Tarzana or Northridge or
whatever the realtors are calling it this week and
whatever you’re calling yourself
this week

Last updated March 11, 2016