POEM - The First Taste is Free

On the edge of LA
Summer trip of 88
Packed tight into less cars than we came in
Road trip to downtown
An welcomed excursion
A different type of E ticket ride
A little more unsafe
A lot more unknown
The characters around each corner
Were not paid to act that way
And the guy with his coat lined with watches
Was not a corporate approved vendor
On the way in Matt and Uncle Kim and I chatted
Matt and I wanting to be cooler
Talk more grown-up
Be no more the kid cousins
Uncle Kim pointed out the carpool lane
High walls we were sinking between
"Always reminds me of Star Wars
     Riding down this concrete valley . . ."
Kim always had a way
Of making the fun even funner
We parked a city block away
Got to walk through the glass and concrete canyons
On the way to a remnant
Of the old California days
Plastered garishly to the high-rise facade
The unmistakable entrance to Clifton's
A wonder expertly decorated
In the Early Attention Deficit Disorder style
After lunch and back out on the street
Retracing the path
Though not too quickly
Past huddled newsstands
With low roofs
Packed with kindling
It is a wonder there were not more fires
As every language  imaginable
Floated past in black ink on newsprint
It was then the addiction started
A thirst for this busy city life
That I was allowed to soak and revel in
A taste I've never lost
A hunger never quelled