(image: a section of the Sunset Strip in Hollywood)
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Sunset Boulevard
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Sunset Boulevard is asphalt and concrete rolled
onto crushed rock. The rest is mirage. If you forget
this, then Hollywood's done one of its jobs. Above
the line of boulevard, wealth's fortifications protrude
from high ground. Below the line, a stew of stucco cooks.
Simmering, it releases gray vapors. Conduits of
sewage, electricity, gas, and such connect it all--
networks of basics, expelled and consumed.
Most buildings and signs on Sunset seem weary
in spite of designed protestations to the contrary.
People look hunted, haunted, or harried, in spite
of display, tattoos, feints, fashion, and façades.
Beneath the boulevard lie geological formations.
On top is us, the decoration. We're the close-up.
Time's the long shot in which all of this will be
out of frame.
Copyright 2009 Hans Ostrom
