Poetry by Carolyn Chilton Casas
Some winter evenings, snow piled
against the door, my mother would open
the living room sofa bed in our one-bedroom
clapboard surrounded by woods
for us to watch TV, warm popcorn
in a blue plastic bowl, my infant brother
determinedly crawling over the blanket
to reach the treat. She taught me
to bite off the harder kernels
he couldn’t chew with just my front teeth,
place only the soft, milky pieces
in his baby bird mouth. Each time, he flashed
his big infant grin, making us laugh
over and over with abandon.
Carolyn Chilton Casas’ poetry has been published in multiple journals and in anthologies including The Wonder of Small Things, Thin Spaces & Sacred Spaces, and Women in a Golden State. More of her poetry can be found at www.carolynchiltoncasas.com and in her last book, Under the Same Sky.
