I-110

LA’s buildings and billboards whisper
sweet nothings to the commuter procession
sitting in traffic, but these trees, pushing
deep into woods, write love letters.

I-5

The trees say things like, “I’ll forgive you
if you divorce your flashy, plastic whore
of a wife and come back to reality where
the air is clean and love is unconditional.”

Michael Bartelt is a high school English teacher and basketball coach who makes poems.