Griffith Park Observatory

You can see it from Some great distance Far below Looking up A majestic dome Commanding the promontory High above the city Gleaming white in the sun Like a great robed prophet Delivering truths to an Unknowing world You decide to make the journey Up the winding hillside Up, up, up The anticipation mounting But the cars begin to pile up Bumper to bumper Slowing your once steady advance To a crawl And the top, so close, seems Oh so far Away Finally, you arrive A parking lot chocked full of People and steel, frustration and fumes Car after car looking for that proverbial Space If only you weren't tied to this Particular orbit, circling endlessly The gravity of that building holding you At arm's length, but no further Till finally, you give up Make your way back down the hill From whence you came Some other day perhaps You'll come back and try again And once again you'll be Defeated The quest is ongoing The night forever young And someday if you're lucky You, too, may see the stars. ~ Laurence Overmire (Previously published in Gone Hollywood, Indelible Mark Publishing,2011)