Long Beach
By Danny Vellekoop
A mile-long, spray-painted millipede
Strains to pull its segments
Weaves along the urban floor
Midst decomposed debris
One hundred thousand metric tons
Drifts leaf-like on the water
Toward tangled shore of I-beam roots
Holds forty-eight-foot stacked cocoons
Half-million barrels of crude black
Pump through sooty vines
Stacks and pumpjacks’ heavy growth
Thick foliage of industrial smoke
Tiny termite with a hard hat
Stands upon his girder
Surveys the forest construct
And revels in his pride
