24 to 980 to 880 to 101 and back again today
i’m not used to seeing
so many eights and so few ones
in my freeway names
i’ve dropped my
southern california “the”
from in front of them
with most everywhere i
need to go within
a five mile radius,
freeways just don’t
matter quite as much
no need to emphasize
them with “the” here
not like back home
where it’s normal to
drive ten miles for
groceries and an hour
to get to work
marin, contra costa,
alameda, san francisco
and san mateo would jigsaw
quite neatly into
los angeles county
freeways are dear when cities sprawl
unfettered by bays and rivers
not so here
no need for “the” here
narinda heng 