a white bird above the drive-thru off 223rd

a white bird above the drive-thru off 223rd

It was my last stop of the day,

they closed at five,

but if you texted them 

he would stay late, 

a Korean man with an English name,

“Hey Sam,” I say. “What you got 

for me 

today?”

Shipping and receiving departments

are an interesting way

to get to know a city,

skin color,

accents,

and smells change,

but the process 

remains 

the 

same.

Having been 

to the majority of the South Bay,

I could tell you that: 

North Torrance 

is industrial,

South Torrance 

is expensive,

and the Westside 

differs from the Eastside

as much as the U.S. and Mexican border 

at the line between

San Ysidro and Tijuana.

Compton today

is about as hard as your nephew 

at the mall off the 91,

a mani-pedi

who sits in his room 

at Mom’s

and plays Fortnite all day.

Gardena

has got some issues,

street sweeping day

calls for all the people living in cars to move,

from the left side of the road to the right

with dresser drawers,

un-attached trailer RV’s,

and baby strollers without babies,

but the dog’s

(I’m gonna rhyme here)

might have RABIES.

Another driver

pulls in 

and parks next to me,

he’s from Louisiana

and has been here

since he was stationed at Point Loma

for four years in 1970;

“You weren’t in Vietnam?”

“Just missed it,” he says. 

He planned to retire in December,

but it’s already the 26th;

“The house,” he says.

“Should have sold by now.”

“Norwalk, right?”

He nods. 

“595 is a decent price 

for that side of town.”

There’s still this part of me

that doesn’t want to settle in 

on a specific route,

an unconscious juggling 

between this life now and one 

that I never want to go back to,

I look up and see 

that after a rain last night

the sky is blue,

shifting from 1st to 2nd 

I skip up to 4th

and it’s making a right off of Avalon onto 223rd

that I see a white dove above the drive-thru.