The air does strange things.
We can’t control it.
Now that I’m out in it
and not just breathing
but driving along
the highway
I’m more aware
of air
all around
and the really strange
heavy thick layers
especially on my left
to the east
for miles and miles
hugging the ground
like a strip of fog
or more likely smoke
it’s so hot out
or dust from a wind
how could it be smog
I can’t see except
by what it does
I just don’t know
what it is
or the cause
but I remember
years ago
when I was young
there were phases of air
first from the backyard
incinerators where
we burned our trash
and then the air cleared
when they sent trucks
to pick it up
and then smog
so thick we had to move away
and then it got better
and then the Olympics
when they staggered
people’s work schedules
and carpools
and the smog disappeared
to the world’s dismay
“L.A., where did you hide
your famous smog?”
and after the games
life returned to normal
and the smog was back.