Injured (Like California)

Los Angeles was a chance, a retreat.
The army of cars sounded like firecrackers,
or security.

The rain somehow escaped.
The hideout was flight: the highway
a drug, a prison.

California was injured– a people debris.
The mountain was a wounded relief–
the face of thunderstorms.

-- James Croal Jackson

Flash Floods Leave Cars Stuck In Muddy Mess
Mexico: Injured drug lord 'El Chapo' on the run
Oregon Gunman was Acting 'Like He Was Playing a Video Game'