"Los Angeles," Kamau Daáood

the angels here
have pigeons' wings
blue collars
washed n sweat
the common salt
in tears
tongues swirl
in a stew of cultures
singing asphalt songs
in the midst of seagulls
bebop atop
the San Andreas
a humble plate
of beings

From The Language of Saxophones.

Daáood straddles the jazz and poet worlds quite readily, working with musicians like Billy Higgins. His collection is the 57th book in City Lights' Pocket Poet Series; he'll be reading from it next week in Los Angeles at the Eso Won bookstore and then at the Los Angeles Times Book Fair.