Poem by Daniela Alvarez, English 2600, fall 2021

There’s No Angels In Los Angeles

Los Angeles

What’s so great about it?

It’s filled with lies and crimes

A stolen land thanks to Christopher!

Some are born here, some come here

Hoping for a better life, but what’s better than your actual home?

I was born in the heart of Los Angeles

Growing up I was taught pretty little lies

How Los Angeles promises us fame, success, and fortune

Which I believed up until High School where everything unraveled

Everything was a lie

History books filled with them

Teachers spreading them

It made me mad

This whole time I thought Los Angeles was a better place

Racism

Discrimination

Injustice

It all lies here

So when you’re forced to come to Los Angeles for a better place,

Don’t think it actually is

Shanghai girls were forced to come here

To marry strangers

To have a better life in an unknown place

All because of their father and his ongoing problems that they were forced to fix

They weren’t happy

They were afraid of the world that didn’t carry their parents

They faced discrimination

They were blamed for things they didn’t do

All because of their race

Appearance

And they only really had each other

The two sisters trying to survive in Los Angeles

As they had barely begun their fresh start

Especially after the Japanese bombs destroyed their city

They had no choice but to move forward

For the safety of their lives

To hopefully fit in

But all Los Angeles did was put up barriers

And that isn’t ever talked about

And why is that you may ask?

Because they are trying to keep Los Angeles clean

A clean image for the city

And by they I mean history, the people and everyone behind LA

This has always been “our” city,

They’re just not hiding it anymore