The calloused, grimy hands of life,
with their split and blackened fingernails,
are waiting to handle
the undirtied souls of the innocent.

Remember that
when you roam Los Angeles.
Remember that
as the light in your eyes dims
and the hunger to be loved
cannot be sated.

Los Angeles shines,
I miss it like a runaway child.
But Los Angeles
is a city built on faults,
don't say I didn't warn you.