

TRUE VALUE OF CA'S REDEMPTION "California redemption value" can be found...TRUE VALUE OF CA'S REDEMPTION by ~kismetrose
...Along the Arroyo Seco Parkway,
Lying by the side of the freeway
In amongst the acres of plastic bottles and dried brush.
...Flashing by like epiphanies while heading onto the 101,
Or like the army of graffiti cats spread out over the Southland.
...Running alongside a mural in which the ghosts of determined athletes
Nearly overcome the rampant tagging that encroaches, smothering.
...In a car always ten years out of date but new to you,
And speeding along in gratitude for only an hour-long commute.
Poetry composed through the voice memo function of your mobile phone
Always makes the po


The Commute of Plenty We crawl through the city on broken knees -The Commute of Plenty by ~kismetrose
Penitent, penitent -
Doing whatever it takes to pay the rent,
From the commute to the office,
Shifting and writhing against each other
Through a maze of crimson and beige,
A daily pilgrimage down the lane of blood and dreams
To the doorstep of grey Gomorrah,
The roulette wheel of plenty.
While across the fields of dust and wheat
Sleepy Sodom is already on its first cigarette break
Bidding the city of angels to wake up already
With all the menace of shrill calls and terse emails.
Is she our sister or our mother?
Either way, we're as close to awake
As we're ever going to get
And as clo


The Cinderella Generation Scion of the Cinderella generationThe Cinderella Generation by ~kismetrose
Raised in the shadow of a warm 50s Eden,
Where Father knew best and Mom was well dressed
And the world was as God had made it.
Latchkey kid,
Daughter of the weekend dad -
Or every other weekend, in my case -
Raised in the age of steps and halves.
A step away from mother or father,
Half a brother, half a sister.
Fractured, we were told.
Our world was given to us broken,
Like the worst of Christmas toys.
And no refunds.
Destined to be broken, bruised.
How could we be real people
When we were reared by the "boob tube"?
We wanted our MTV
And our Nintendos and our Walkmans
To hide the sounds of


War of the Gastro Ninja This is for the gastro ninjasWar of the Gastro Ninja by ~kismetrose
Sneaking up on the fridge late at night
Breaching the kitchen's defenses with steps
So light you'd never know how heavy they really were.
Gastro ninjas
Hiding cookies and snack cakes
Practicing that sleight of hand because
If no one sees me eat it, it doesn't count.
Practicing that Jedi mind trick:
"These are not the pounds you're looking for,
So move on, health Nazis."
Nazis versus ninjas
Wielding celery against bread sticks
In the war for the kitchen.
France surrenders.
But here the dinner table needn't be a prison,
And the bathroom scale needn't be an instrument of torture:
"We haf ways of ma
