13/30

There was a man
there was a man attempting
suicide
there was a man attempting
suicide on an overpass of the 105
there was a man attempting
suicide on an overpass of the 105
in Los Angeles.

There was a man attempting
suicide on an overpass of the 105
in Los Angeles, his feet dangling
like Chinatown ducks from the
chain link security fence.  He
contemplated the scene below:
ten lanes of traffic in a city whose
name smells like smog,  stopped
up with human cholesterol, people
who stepped out of their impeccable
cars to line up and take a selfie
with the jumper on their iPhones.

Somehow, in the hours that passed
with him perched on a narrow
stretch of concrete above the worst
that this world has to offer, he
must have seen something beautiful -
or perhaps at the last moment, he
realized there were places and
people more deserving of the blood
he wished to share.