desperadoes under the eaves in poetry

at the corner of Sunset and Gower
at the eastern edge of Hollywood
in the depths of dark Los Angeles
there was a place they called “Gower Gulch”
where in the twenties and thirties
they had the casting offices for
all of the cowboy movies they made
a new one every ten days they say

so it was known and the real cowboys would ride
into town on their horses and in their dusty leathers
hoping to get cast as bit parts and extras
in the cowboy movies of the time
because it paid better than being actual cowboys

five bucks for an extra
ten bucks for couple of lines
more if you brought your own costume
more if you brought own horse
which gave real cowboys advantage of course

John Wayne was discovered at Gower Gulch
Gene Autry was discovered at Gower Gulch
Roy Rogers was discovered at Gower Gulch

at Gower Gulch they’d go
the real sublimating into the imaginary
the real better off as the pretend
the historical would fade into history
better remembered in stories than in any museum
how Hollywood is that?

there’s a Denny’s there now
how Hollywood is that?
but they say you can hear them still
with the right kind of ears they say
you can still hear the horses
if you stare into the sun and look away down Gower Avenue
look away hear the horses
hear the real becoming fake and
living forever because it stopped being real

that’s what the movies do
that’s what Los Angeles does too
look away down Gower Avenue

Last updated June 30, 2016