california

when i was eighteen
i was about to take
a road trip by car
to california, LA
to be exact to visit
a girl i had met here
visiting the east
coast. she was all
that with the tan,
the long beach hair,
a free spirit with
laughter in her eyes.
so my friends and i
got ready, packed
the car to journey
across the country to
california, where
our lives would change
forever, to a place we'd
never leave, but
the car broke down
in baltimore and
we never made it.
and the girl disappeared,
joined a commune in
israel, and life went
on. but i still feel
that i'm about to
take that trip,
to take that journey,
my own personal exodus
to a place in my
imagination my own
personal california.