Pencil Illustration by Katy Wisniewski

Santa Barbara

– Poetry by Dallas Athent – 

montecito hair
is long and ends in a clean line. it asks for no forgiveness
on the tan girl, tres mince, who never wants to know u.

a palm in the sun.

~

what happens when i am gross?
i am the gross girl.

the flab over shorts-too-short.
the beer among cocktails.
the sand in the nail.
the motel-over-hotel.
the extra 300 calories.
the pale in the tanned.
the one without the white shirt.

what happens when i grow far above the vista,
a bird’s eye over all you see? a ghastly eclipse.

well then they see, they will see me.

***

Dallas Athent

Dallas Athent is the author of Theia Mania, and editor of Bushwick Nightz. She’s an art reviewer for At Large Magazine and board member of Nomadic Press. Her work has been published in Buzzfeed Community. Luna Luna Magazine, VIDA Reports From The Field, BUST Magazine, The Gloss and more. She’s worked for three years in Construction Technology, traveling the world to work on construction projects which has aided her writing.