Just as I thought I had finally broke free
I saw three miles of taillights in front of me
The city was so grey today
And I’d almost reached the sun
But it was bumper to bumper on the US-101
There’s an exit to the right.
I’d turn on my blinker,
But it’s not polite to do that on the US-101
Traffic inches forward on a one way street
Lined with clapboard houses I could never afford
Oh Lord, you won’t even buy me a Honda Accord
The street signs have an italicized cartoon font
You can even live here if you want
There’s Sothebys and Keller and Century 21
With convenient beachfront access and the US-101
There are no restaurants here,
There are no stores.
I wonder what people in this town even eat.
They must breathe in the air and get the nutrition they need from their earbuds and iPods as they jog with their dogs
Making better time in the bike lane
Than all the people like me
Trying to break free
From the traffic situation on the US-101
I’m being passed by a skateboard
The occasional bike
A waving shirtless jogger
Some guy in a green Prius
Who must think that his car is a bike
I’ll see him again soon on the US-101
At every other intersection
A disembodied voice says “turn left here.”
No thank you.
I am not going anywhere near the US-101
Until I reach the reason for the delay:
A woman with a wrecked Mercedes
Being towed away
Second driver today
Who had managed to have spun
Across all three lanes of the US-101
Wrapping a fur coat around her tightly
It’s cold outside but she looks okay
Her yellow lab is relaxing in the sun
With his tongue sticking out,
Tail happily wagging
It looks like he’s been having fun today
On the US-101
Top down at the rest stop in Gaviota
With a wide open throttle
Escaping the last several inches
of the traffic and the smog from LA
Where the freeway ends
The PCH begins
And I have exactly three hours left
Until the ranger chases me away
