surfed Killer Dana
before the marina
surfed Doheny
till the river made me sick
shot the pier at Newport
back when it was legal
surfed Salt Creek
before the Ritz
surfed Rincon
before the oil wells
surfed San Onofre
before the power plant
surfed Baja
before the toll road
surfed loaded
up in Malibu
surfed tired
down by Carlsbad
surfed Santa Cruz
till I nearly drowned
surfed Huntington
the day it took the pier
surfed Ventura
at midnight, naked
surfed Oak Street
the day eight kids
killed a guy, yelling
“stomp the fag”
surfed T street
when my father died
and now i can’t go back
surfed a war that had no reason
surfed the politics of crime
surfed the vandals’ way with money
surfed relentless loss of hope
surfed 25 years of falling down
surfed drunkenness and dope
surfed failure as only i could make it
surfed the fear in my children’s eyes
surfed women strong as tides
surfed with everything i know
surfed the day that i will die
now, they want to take Trestles
turn doe-skin bluffs to stucco
and make an ocean view
well, i surfed waves big as buildings
and i’ve been tunneled for a week
the only thing that can’t be surfed
is this wave rolling from the east
a wave too big, a tube too black
even for Da Cat
except we all know Dora
never thinks like that
Chrome Press 