My Beloved California

We wrote this while waiting to hear from our loved ones in L.A.

Somebody thought it would be a good idea

To play The Mamas and The Papas singing

California Dreamin'

While looming pillars of fire and smoke

Grow forever above scalding topsoil,

spinning insanely in the burning sleet,

Towns and neighborhoods are choking

On their own ashes

Defeated

Burnt

Scorched,

Still, unable to cry.

In the television studios they talk statistics:

How many died in The Palisades

How many fled from Altadena

Who lost their houses in Malibu

Who's next to be evacuated

(Flaming backgrounds always look dramatic)

But the ghost they call God

Is nowhere to be found,

And who will guide creation to safety?

Today, there's no dreaming of California,

Some will never sleep again.

So, I stride across the ruins

Of what I used to call HOME,

Crying for you, my beloved California,

Singing

All the trees are black

And the sky is red.