*my photo of a walnut grove*

five hour drive LA to Frisco
of course, that's going 90 per hour
taking clues from big rig drivers
they're hauling fast, me too

thinking about the old cliche
California - home of the fruits and nuts
the central state is filled with those
acres and acres and mile upon mile

walnut groves and pecans too
almond forests with canopies
so full, so thick it looks like night
not a single weed beneath them

citrus now of every flavor
i can't believe the world
how can children starve today
when there is so much food

climate change and elevation
cattle ranches left and right
radio picks up those cowboy tunes
then they're lost past hills

grapes and grapes forever more
no birds in site around these crops
startled by the sparkle glimmer
of aluminum ribbons waving shimmer

further north the onion fields
tomatoes then and artichokes
hold your nose in garlic town
it's potent to behold

more grapes and lettuce
and strawberry fields
then trees and hills
and dairy farms

houses and houses and houses and houses
farmlands yield to people
city in sight, skyscraper view
and victorians lined in rows

homeless woman and her shopping cart
flamboyant man in feather boa
a punk is screaming at the curb
a man walks his cat in a stroller

the suits are running to catch the bus
high heel shoes hailing cabs
a dog is sniffing the garbage can
and a student rides his bike


it's diverse, the land of free
where 35 million call their home
just a cliche of our landscape
in the land of the fruits and nuts