Tom Laichas
Tom Laichas is author of Empire of Eden, Sixty-Three Photographs from the End of a War and, most recently, Three Hundred Streets of Venice California. His recent work has appeared in The Moth (Ireland), Salt, Anacapa Review, Jabberwock, Blue Unicorn, Stand (UK), and elsewhere. He lives in Venice, California.
Tom Laichas is author of Empire of Eden, Sixty-Three Photographs from the End of a War and, most recently, Three Hundred Streets of Venice California. His recent work has appeared in The Moth (Ireland), Salt, Anacapa Review, Jabberwock, Blue Unicorn, Stand (UK), and elsewhere. He lives in Venice, California.
Lucille Av
A virtuous street, lawns clipped and tidy, its signage a caution to neighbors. No graffiti slurs masonry. No body sleeps on pavement. House lots are small. Mortgages conform. Cars park legally.
At one end of the street, an all-way stop slows traffic to a residential pace. At the other end, a church.
Outsiders, here for boardwalk and beach, don’t bother with Lucille, never walk that mile east. Lucille won’t walk west to meet them. The avenue stays put, hoarding neighbors behind hedges.
Though they’re on the map, some streets do not exist for strangers.
A virtuous street, lawns clipped and tidy, its signage a caution to neighbors. No graffiti slurs masonry. No body sleeps on pavement. House lots are small. Mortgages conform. Cars park legally.
At one end of the street, an all-way stop slows traffic to a residential pace. At the other end, a church.
Outsiders, here for boardwalk and beach, don’t bother with Lucille, never walk that mile east. Lucille won’t walk west to meet them. The avenue stays put, hoarding neighbors behind hedges.
Though they’re on the map, some streets do not exist for strangers.
© 2023 Tom Laichas
Tom Laichas was a Featured Poet at the July 2023 Second Sunday Poetry Series
Tom Laichas was a Featured Poet at the July 2023 Second Sunday Poetry Series