VENICE BEACH

This Edge-Land
Of sand dunes
Estuaries
Marsh
And sage scrub.

Of marine layers
Sea breezes
Heat inversions
And Santa Ana winds:
This Land of Smokes.

Built in the first half
Of the twentieth century
With dredged sand
Florida-like beaches
Now span the Coastal Ecotone.

This disturbed land.
These alien landscapes.
Where the endless desert sands
Are daily groomed
And fringed with exotic palms.

Where Dreams
Are Born
Lives planned
Hopes dashed.
Oh, this Unhappy Land.