Bare feet dancing
on crystal clean dirt streets.
Hands locked together, floating
above hot desert sand.
Faces made of smiles
born of golden solar flares.
Concrete buildings strung across villages
become Christmas lights
under a crescent moon.
Warm homes made of skeleton boxes
by child-like eyes and adult-like dreams.
And then war happens.
and it happens
and it happens
and all of its benefits and insurances
that come and go with it.
but still they carry big dreams
the exact way we’ve been carrying
the American dream,
that has yet to come true.
© Jessica Ceballos
Jessica Ceballos
Native of LA, Jessica has been writing for over 20 years. Schooled at FIDM and Occidental College, her poetry has appeared in Centre Review, Hinchas de Poesia, among others. Sheís been featured throughout Los Angeles including La Palabra, The Paloma Room, Feral Fusion, Cobalt CafÈ, First Sundays at Beyond Baroque and at Writer’s Row at the The Last Bookstore. Jessica hosts the popular Bluebird Reading Series at Avenue 50 Studio and the Great Beyond open mic at Beyond Baroque. With gentrification sweeping through Highland Park, Ceballos is embarking on one more project: Between York and Fig, which compares the two busy streets of 90042 and show that all the businesses in the area are important. She’s been a member of the local Neighborhood Council.
