Palms, Victory, Triumph, Excellence

by Ed Dorn (from Hello, La Jolla)

My L.A. began in 1947

when I was in high school

and the derricks were still up.

I was fresh from Illinois

enlightened by Malinowski.

The excitement was not

in The Light, even then

beginning to be obscured

but in the Palm Trees

those companions of the dinosaurs.

They are as snobbish as ethiopians

in their attitude toward man,

They follow him everywhere

except where it gets uncomfortable.

My favorite palms are in Riverside,

ol'downtown.

When someone told me

they are the preferred dwelling

of rats

I was emphatic in my disbelief

and in my disapproval of the possibility.

But of course, rats are smart