My poem “We Are Still Alive in Los Angeles” is a sequel to one of my earlier poems that mapped Los Angeles. When I interviewed Wanda Coleman in 2013, she told me that she had a few poems that she would write a sequel to a decade or so later, after she gained a new perspective. That idea stayed with me, and I have done the same now with this poem. Following the recent Los Angeles fires, old friends were texting me my previous poem, “I Am Alive in Los Angeles!,” and how we are all still here together loving our city no matter what. I started thinking about how “We” support one another in community and how important it is for us to remember one another. We are still alive in Los Angeles, and contrary to popular belief, there’s deep fellowship in L.A. that isn’t talked about enough. This poem honors the beloved community.•
We are still alive in Los Angeles
after too many years of ignoring
Indigenous knowledge, it’s time to
abolish extractive practices that
turn their back on climate whiplash
insurance companies need to come correct
let’s connect land medicine with science
We are still alive in Los Angeles
as political foes play pin the tail
on the disaster while thousands
of residents have lost their homes
there’s no time for the blame game
we need to transmute suffering
to beloved community because
We are family no matter what
We are still alive in Los Angeles
as Angelenos across the city
volunteer time & energy to help those
in need, contrary to popular belief
we are a working-class city
We are still alive in Los Angeles
listening to Kendrick Lamar
while reading Octavia Butler & Mike
Davis even if they not like us
we build bridges across districts
We are still alive in Los Angeles
even as the Santa Ana winds
& chaparral commiserate putting
Eden in jeopardy the future recipe’s
gotta be drought-resistant California
native plants
We are still alive in Los Angeles
even in the Palisades & Altadena
rebuilding the city with mutual aid
The world has its eye on L.A. let’s
make sure everyone affected is equally
compensated there’s a long road ahead
but together we can make it
We are still alive in Los Angeles!
This poem appears in Issue 31 of Alta Journal.
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Mike Sonksen, a third-generation Angeleno, is a poet, an essayist, and the author of Letters to My City.
