white sharks circling the farallons | a dark sea once was land with mastadons | california schrödinger two states at once | dead grey fog envelops highway one | bright sunshine photons they scorch the ground | gold rush fuckboys overrun the town | the tech moguls say that they can fix our lives | the cult leaders say that they can fix our lives | the politicians say that they can fix our lives | the drug dealers know that we can’t fix our lives | a grey world simultaneously lush | california schrödinger two states at once | the central valley spirals past one hundred ten | while cliffside houses lose the ground that’s under them | the forests burn | bible thumpers hug their guns | the dams burst, swept up in an endless flood | gnawing hacking slashing burning sawing sloshing | the ocean is churning with white sharks circling the farallons | the cult leaders poisoning the woebegones | politicians reclining as they ramble on | while tech moguls whisper with the pentagon | a harsh world simultaneously lush | california schrödinger two states at once

grey is the opposite of legend | age is the opposite of heaven | time is needed for perfection | no feedback from self reflection | quantum direction two states at once | northern california | southern california | hopeless in california | stoked up in california | mother, she tried to warn ya | but you decided to scorn her | quantum direction, two states at once | southern california | northern california | fact is the opposite of legend | i am the opposite of kevin | this is a requisite for bettering | surrendering from remembering | quantum california, two states at once | nothern california | southern california | lies are the opposite of legend | grey is the opposite of heaven | flat grey horizon, invert the week and the weekend | quantum california, two states at once | stoked up in california | hopeless in california | this is the opposite of heaven | age is a requisite for bettering | time is a broken essence | weeds only grow from remembrance | quantum california, two states at once | hopeless in california | stoked up in california | fact is the opposite of legend | age is the opposite of heaven | time is needed for perfection no feedback from self reflection | quantum direction, two states at once | northern california | southern california | hopeless in california | stoked up in california | mother, she tried to warn ya | but you decided to scorn her | quantum direction, two states at once | southern california | northern california | hopeless in california | stoked up in california | gonna die in california | so alive in california | quantum direction, two states at once | northern california | southern california | stoked up in california | hoped up in california | so alive in california | gonna die in california | quantum direction, two states at once | southern california | northern california | hopeless in california | stoked up in california | gonna die in california | so alive in california | quantum direction, two states at once | northern california | southern california | stoked up in california | hopeless in california | so alive in california | gonna die in california | quantum direction, two states at once | southern california | northern california | hopeless in california | stoked up in california | gonna die in california | so alive in california | quantum direction, two states at once | northern california | southern california | stoked up in california | hopeless in california

rats fighting over sugar | humans fighting over fame | dopamine dope fiends | motherfucker welcome to l a | instagram | bitch, i’m famous | venice beach palm trees | i didn’t smash your bird | i’m blameless | girl, you nasty in them old-ass jeans | that’s the real me on that little screen | dopamine dope fiends never need to leave their teens | everybody fabricate sex, money, fame, hate | every single part’s fake | welcome to la | but la is too real | verging on the hyperreal | hyper-fake, hyper-flake | surrealist silver lake | santa ana, anaheim | anna nicole smith died | homelessness, high crime | malibu suicides | el coyote, sharon tate | her last meal there must’ve tasted great | housekeeper screamed the next morning at eight | now every single newsvan’s on the case | race riots, rodney king | oj simpson, lapd | simultaneously real and fake | welcome to the l to the a | how can life be so dark grey | in the hollywood sun | a million freeways, but nowhere left to run | have the stars burned a hole right through my soul i don’t know | oh, fault lines of lies in southern california | griffith park moonrise | stars on the strip | please avert your eyes | a pantheon of celebutantes | motherfuckers living life free from want | addicted to opioids | fame is my drug of choice | life’s a beach, kill me now | sandcrabs living inside of my mouth | that’s the real me on that little screen | dopamine dope fiends, they never need to leave their teens | everybody fabricate sex, money, fame, and hate | every single part is fake | motherfucker welcome to the l to the a | how can life be so dark grey in the hollywood sun

can you be sub- and super-human at the same time? | just a peon while reinventing modern life? | guiltless while playing in the blame game? | a real person when reality is just fake? | straightforward when surrounded by the fake news? | a human being when they’re bludgeoning your sense of truth? | a tech lackey but a valuable asset? | a probability that hasn’t been collapsed yet? | the big boy in a room full of bigger boys? | satisfied, but always wanting all the tech toys? | individual, but bringing family honor? | (foxconn, withdrawn, he’s a goner) | repetitious like a loop in a tape deck? | ambitious for the truth, earning respect? | disavowing of a moral obligation? | still whole after bifurcation? | worship the gurus with jobs | disregard artistic snobs | worship the black turtleneck | disregard poetry class | worship the ux design | disregard vacation time | worship the new middlemen | disregard moments of zen | worship the tall burning man | disregard using my sand | worship the blood of the young | disregard life in the sun | worship the platform itself | disregard hate that it sells | worship 1984 | disregard ads from before | cause you’ve got mail you’ve got mail you’ve got mail | you’ve got males in man jose | are you leaning in if leaning in is really leaning out? | fixing problems if the goal is to extract clout? | humanitarian without a human in your brand? | helping others if you worship ayn rand? | still human if you worship nietzsche? | still humble if you need no teacher? | still grounded if you like space joyrides? | still level on a woodside hillside? | sub- and super-human at the same time? | still a human in performative pantomime? | still proud if you’re owned by bezos? | still a human if he is your jesus? | an individual but bifurcated | whose creativity is decimated? | guiltless while playing in the blame game? | a real person when reality is just fake? | i swallowed a moon made of iron | they refer to it as a nail | i swallowed this industrial sewage, these unemployment documents | youth, stooped at machines died before their time | i swallowed the hustle and the destitution | swallowed pedestrian bridges | swallowed life covered in rust | i cannot swallow anymore | all that i swallowed is now gushing out of my throat | unfurling on the land of my ancestors | into a disgraceful poem

grey is the opposite of legend | age is the opposite of heaven | time is needed for perfection | no feedback from self reflection | quantum direction two states at once | northern california | baja california

you dream of fabulous wealth | you dream of a better self | could you have both at one time? | could you pass through that eye? | in san simeon there’s a giant castle | in san simeon there’s a smelly beach | in san simeon there’s american tourists | in san simeon there are elephant seals | in san simeon there’s a giant castle | in san simeon there’s a smelly beach | in san simeon there are elephant seals | in san simeon there’s a symbol of greed | i’m talking about william randolph hearst | a rosebud drowning in his neptune pool | no swimming allowed | no swimming allowed | you gotta pay to get in, but no swimming allowed | just cause a rich man donates his house | doesn’t him from his damned moral sins absolve | the eye of a needle | the eye of a needle | like an elephant seal through the eye of a needle | now behold the fabulous roman pool | flanked by marble statues and american fools | there’s not a single single poor tourist in there | just temporarily embarrassed millionaires | next stop on the tour is the old hearst zoo | a goddamned zoo with an airstrip too | lions, tigers, and bears, oh my | like an elephant seal passing through the eye of a needle | you dream of fabulous wealth | you dream of a better self | could you have both at one time? | could you pass through that eye?

you are strong and you are weak at once | you’re naive and you are wise at once | you are old and you are young at once | you are well and you are sick at once | you are weak and you are strong at once | you are dead and you’re alive at once | you’re alive and you are dead at once | you’re alone and you’re in love at once | you are sick and you are well at once | you are grown and you’re a child at once | you’re awake and you’re asleep at once | you’re in love and you’re alone at once | you are well and you are sick at once | you’re a child and you are grown at once | you’re asleep and you’re awake at once | you are young and you are old at once | you are sick and you are well at once | you are strong and you are weak at once | you’re naive and you are wise at once | you’re alone and you’re in love at once | you are sick and you are well at once | you are grown and you’re a child at once | you’re awake and you’re asleep at once | you’re in love and you’re alone at once | you are old and you are young at once | you are well and you are sick at once | you are weak and you are strong at once | you are wise and you’re naive at once | you’re naive and you are wise at once | we’re in love and we’re alone at once | we are well and we are sick at once | we’re asleep and we’re awake at once | we’re awake and we’re asleep at once | we are young and we are old at once | we are sick and we are well at once | we are strong and we are weak at once | we are weak and we are strong at once | we are wise and we’re naive at once | we’re naive and we are wise at once | we’re alive and we are dead at once | we are dead and we’re alive at once

children with blond locks and big smiles play carefree | who knows what monsters we will mold them to be? | in menlo and palo moms helicopter so close | high high school suicide rates at gunn academy | i don’t give a fuck about no standardized test | i am not a number, please do not reduce me to that | but please dear god help me get into cal poly tech | children with brown locks are told money’s what counts | through the global signifiers of sociopathy | tantrums make screen time | and screens melt those young minds | while ux designers keep on working to refine | he don’t give a fuck about no kids | nuremberg defense | cog in the machine | doing job | zero moral sense | children with black locks and big smiles play carefree | then we sort them into factions based on ability | we tell them we love them | but love is contingent | upon the fulfillment | of our hopes and dreams | don’t you think that that doesn’t have an effect | no it shouldn’t | but we make brand new monsters every day | how we love them | that’s not love, but it’s love | quantum state, sealing fate | we create self-hate | we might as well have just killed them

a grizzly is shambling slow in the mountains | he crosses a trail he’s never seen before | moving toward a lake | desolate and grey | late november blizzard just the other day | wagon wheel tracks never turning back | women and children, extremities are black | 1846 | winter has appeared | stuck on a pass at the coldest time of year | choices they made full of hubris and shade | it had all the makings of a classic tragedy | straying from the trail | cattle falling dead | men betraying men | shoot them in the head | party breaking up | time is nearly lost | have to make a gamble | have to try to cross | now a deadly fate | freezing at a lake | all they wanted is to find the golden state | what is the sound that’s made when one hand claps? | is it the sound of both hands clapping with no one to clap back? | can the past be the present if the present is past? | can you be living in california while dying on donner pass? | six feet of snow on the outside of cabins | december descending to colder than before | try to hike the pass | little food remains | shiver in the cold | snow turns into rain | hypothermia | raving in a storm | too wet for a fire | nothing keeping warm | burn the forest down | what choice do you have? | live another week | write your epitaph | someone you knew is becoming your food | it had all the makings of an awful tragedy | stumble down the slope | looking for a fort | quite a way to find california | rounding into spring | nearly half had died | 41 were gone | 46 survived | let me go repeat | nearly half had died | 41 were gone | 46 survived | what is the sound that’s made when one hand claps? | is it the sound of both hands clapping with no one to clap back? | can the past be the present if the present is past? | can you be living in california while dying on donner pass? | now it’s a 21st-century land of excess | a place of ski resort villas for the noblesse

10,000 years ago | 10,000 years from now | thunderheads gathering | mastodons scattering | it starts with a smattering of ocean raindrops | drops drip into a downpour | the water falls, it never stops | a torrent of biblical proportions | and it’s pouring while the central valley’s snoring | unaware of water boring through the great state, bringing fate | flash floods, making way | saberteeth hide in caves | migrant families tucked away in boxcars | houses built on stilts collapse in slides of muddy silt between the hills | cause california kills | queen califia is our caliphate | she make the decision to terminate | everybody chooses a certain fate | if they reside in the golden state | firestorms in humboldt | the thumbolts hew the redwoods to deadwood | just like califia said she would | the snowpack turns jet black with fresh ash | as rainstorms and firestorms turn mountains into molehills in a flash | deserts expand, demanding new land for their sick experiments | radioactive pyramids | a testament to western expression that went awry | like thinking that lives were much more than blinking of an eye | the riots keep growing | the lava keeps flowing | the ashes start snowing | the cars begin slowing to a halt | stuck in traffic with no hope of escape | we knew we’d die on 405, today is the day | the rear projection finally comes alive | hungry for a culture built on fast cars and cheap thrills | cause california kills | queen califia is our caliphate | she make the decision to terminate | everybody chooses a certain fate | if they reside in the golden state

coast live oaks | no tall eucalyptus groves | falcons and condors | grey whales and coyotes | the california grizzly in grizzled california | in 1769 the spanish explorers | straight up missed monterey | but saw san francisco bay gleaming | or maybe it was on a foggy day | up high on that range | must’ve felt so high | the jewel in the iris of the west coast’s eye: the bay | but fast-forward to today | the ruins of a cold-war missile site | america fades | the homeless encampments, the drug use rampant | is this the fabled beauty queen of life’s pageant? | does california stay great? | does california slay greats? | does she lift up the poor | or does she spit in their face? | where does the particle travel now once it’s been observed? | how does the golden state move spinning but unswerved? | everyone’s a transplant | can’t plant flags when the flagpole sitters charge a million full | the cost of living is bull | only the technocrats bear it | while the migrants all are swearing cause their margins are null | a state of gold rushes, bank runs, and sky-high theft | the american west, now the american left | and zero legends are left | the shakurs and steinbecks | the juana briones and sally rides and rose paks | how does a legend fade into grey? | how do we settle all these quantum states? | how does the califia create our quantum fates? | how can we make up for lost time when running late? | how does a grey life become legend? | if time is needed for perfection | no feedback from self reflection | quantum direction | two states at once | northern california | southern california | where did you come from to get to california? | alive and dead at once on donner pass, and now we mourn ya | where did you come from to get to california?

you’re alive and you are dead at once | you are weak and you are strong at once | you are young and you are old at once | you are wise and you’re naive at once | you are sick and you are well at once | you are in heaven and in hell at once | you’re alive and you are dead at once | quantum california | two states at once | white sharks circling the farallons | the san francisco bay | you know once it was land with mastodons | dead grey skies and highway one | simultaneously bathed in golden sun | like an elephant seal through the eye of a needle | like a califian quantum state, unwritten is real | where did you come from to get to this state? | and tell me what you’ve sacrificed along the way | if you had stayed, would it be the same? | are you entirely guilty but also free of blame? | and has your past faded into grey? | how can a grey past become a legend in this way? | and if we’re living in two states at once | if you’re alive and you are dead at once | and if it’s over but it’s just begun | what would you do if it’s true two equals one?