"los angeles romantic"

"los angeles romantic"
written young and reckless by jake kilroy.

los angeles had me before i ever
waxed nostalgic, waxed poetic, waxed on the record.
smokey breaths left me like climbers,
as i sipped coffee in diners
and had to wait around
for a girl to get off work
at a fashion magazine.

still, we talked delillo and we loved like anarchists,
with aches in our muscles instead of our smiles.
she'd do mimosas for breakfast and i'd do jokes.
sometime around blood marys,
she'd ask if i wanted to stay the weekend,
and i'd think about an L.A. life with an L.A. girl.
what's it like to live in a city where the only thing sacred
is the city?

i'd wonder around the time she'd kiss my ear
and tell me black and white films were for romantics
and megalomaniacs who didn't know themselves all that well.

it'd be afternoon when i'd try to find my car
on a tree-lined street being used as a movie set.
"can you play the part of a guy trying to find his car?"
they'd ask me, and i'd just keep walking.
"perfect."
and i'd shrug.