Boyle Heights

East of the LA river, once a haven for the Tongva People
who called that land Yaang'na—
the pulsing cradle & refuge of immigrants, dates to 1845.

A crucible of cultures. Japanese, Jews, Russians, Armenians,
Italians & Mexican-Americans found homes there.
No restrictive covenants.

Whittier Boulevard's remembered for Low Riders,
local gangs, Pachuco culture's fancy dressers
& what Ricky Martin called la vida loca.

In 1970, Ruben Salazar, the LA Times reporter
who gave voice to the Chicano Movement was killed
by a sheriff deputy's tear gas canister at the Silver Dollar Bar.

Brooklyn Avenue now re-named Cesar Chavez.
Galleries, historic murals & graffiti art adorn the streets.
Liliana's & El Tapeyac Café, the best for tamales.

One spring, we drove my father-in-law Gene
to see the historic Breed Street Schul,
hub of LA's Jewish life through the Fifties,

& Home of Peace Cemetery where Fanny Brice,
Louis B Mayer, all the Warner Brothers
& two of the Three Stooges repose.

Gene was unimpressed.
We stopped at a local diner & he just said—
I've tasted better coffee.