The Hummer limousines
Cruised down the boulevard
Filled with the sounds of music,
Laughter and clinking glasses
And the smiling faces of
Graduates celebrating
Their prom night.

The limousines cruised
Past the shining glass
And steel facades of
The city and neon lights
Glowing in bright colours,
Hotel fountains shooting up
Colours of illuminated water
Into the air and the aroma
Of fast food stands mingling
With the chaos and noise
Pumping out of bars and
Night clubs.

The City of Angels
Dripped with money,
Power and wealth,
Dripped with the obscene
Consumption of vanity,
The shining city of
The West.

Behind the glistening
Facades of the downtown
Streets and boulevards,
The backstreets and alleyways
Were filled with the destitute,
And the newly indentured poor
Living in cardboard boxes
And camping tents on
Filthy highway underpasses
Pitched and sewn together
Like small villages.

Like sprawling favelas,
With wisps of smoke
Rising up from the fires
From rusted oil drums,
The haggard expressionless
Faces glowing with sadness,
Their shadows dancing
On the cold bitumen streets
Filled with the stains of shit,
And piss and semen;
While the high school
Kids in their Hummers
Snorted cocaine and
Swigged beer and wine
On their way to their
Prom down the
Shining streets of
The City of Angels.

While the homies
In the hoods cruised
Suburban beats
To the beats of
Tupac and Snoop Dogg
Patrolling their turf,
And the army of
Average Joes in suburbia
In front of glowing
Television screens
Consumed pizzas
And hotdogs,
Packing Glocks,
Doors bolted shut,
The red white and blue
Flags flapping on their
Front lawns.

This was America,
Where the poor and
Disenfranchised were
Forgotten and discarded
Like human refuse in the
Backstreets and alleyways
In the City of Angels.

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With a digital drawing from Nikos Laios

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Don't miss Nikos Laios NEW eBook
The Silent Symphony
A collection of poems and paintings,
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Ida & Her Magic Camera
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