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Seasons in L.A.  
by Rick Lupert

It is Autumn in L.A. and soon the leaves will come off the trees
Throughout the Southland, a total of six leaves will fall off as many trees
and those lucky enough to spot one will reminisce wistfully

about their time spent in the east as a child.  Those not from the east
will curse the harshness of L.A.’s winters and continue on their long drives
down Sepulveda for destinations as far away as Culver City

I wonder how the onset of Fall will affect the hummingbirds
every day, now that we’ve installed the feeder, a fleet of the rascals
like feathered helicopters, hovers near the flower shaped receptacles

sipping the sweet nectar I break my fingers every day to afford.
Do they leave town when the thermometer hits the arctic like
sub sixty-five degrees that sends my wool cap on a b-line

straight from the closet to the washing machine for it’s annual refreshening.
Or do they stick it out, hover together for warmth, disguise themselves
as falling leaves, and pray to the bird-gods the nectar doesn’t freeze

It is seriously not summer in Los Angeles.  Those of us with a preference
for cold weather clothes are warming up our credit cards.  Fire season
has come and gone.  It’s time to put out the flood decorations.

I am one of the lucky ones.
A leaf has fallen off my tree.
I watch it drift to the ground like American Beauty

first published: Gatsby

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