Watching the news
A thousand miles away 
Showing the destruction of the City of Angels
The city where my daughter lives and works 
The city she loves 
The city I didn’t want to love when she moved there 
The city destroyed 
By fire, not just fire but infernos, like bombs 
Like war, like the apocalypse, people say 
Hundreds and thousands of lives changed forever 
Millions of hearts broken by burned-to-the-ground homes and jobs lost,
By collateral damage.   

By the heartless Santa Ana winds fueled by La Niña 
Roaring down from the eastern deserts and mountains toward the ocean 
Like a runaway train sent from Hell 
Not caring about lives and broken hearts 
Sparking fires in the innocent dry brush along the way. 
We are helpless. You cannot stop nature. 
All we can do is watch in horror. 

While millions of minds shatter
Trying to piece together 
Something so horrific 
A human heart strains to hold 
The pain, the grief, the loss 
And, in the end, cannot hold that much pain. 
That much grief. 
That much loss. 
It’s too much.

I wonder … where did the birds go?
The beloved parakeets, doves, hummingbirds and jays? 
What happened to their nests? 
Don’t wonder. Don’t think about the forest creatures, the wild and domestic animals. 
Too much to think about; too much to hold. 
Tomorrow. We will think about the creatures tomorrow. 

The avocado, orange and lemon trees. The bougainvillea. 
Art and architecture. Mid-century craftsman houses
That held the artifacts of generations of families – of love. 
The corner grocery, the bodega where you knew everyone 
and everyone knew you. 
Gone. Scattered into the wind. 
It’s too much to hold.

Mourning the lives taken of those who couldn’t escape 
Will crush our hearts if we try. 
We can’t. We must remain strong.
For one another. 
Tomorrow we will grieve. 

“Community” is the word most often repeated  
“We lost our community” Where did everyone go? 
Displaced. Moved. Lost. Gone.
Strangers coming together to help each other 
With food, clothing, shelter, a kind word. 
Here’s a meal; take it. Please. 
We hold Community. We hold the Firefighters. 
Because they are the angels in this City we love. 

And now I get it.
I love your city, too.  
This charred and beautiful City of Angels.