TO SEE NEW by Carolyn Chilton Casas

Today, we are excited to share with you an excerpt from the newly released Under the Same Sky, by Carolyn Chilton Casas one of our regular contributors. Under the Same Sky is Carolyn's second poetry collection, and was released today with Golden Dragonfly Press.  

Together in the Evening Light                  

 

In the soft light 

of longer evening hours,

we sit down 

at our rough pine table

with warm plates

of grilled fish 

and steamed vegetables.

I glance past my husband

and see two deer

lying on the grass—

a doe, her eyes locked

with mine, and her fawn,

head twisted back resting

on his shoulder as he sleeps.  

She does not startle

when I stand to bring 

the butter, pour the wine;

they are frequent guests.

In a bougainvillea next

to the window, a blue jay

darts in and out,

carrying twigs to knit

her nest. Now she hops

in bushes near the deer,

then flutters to a stop

on top of the fawn.

When there is no complaint,

she begins to pick at his

molting hair, 

his humble offering

to the blue babies 

about to come.

(This poem first appeared in Your Daily Poem) 

      *   *   *

To See New          

Wherever we look, 

the chance for wonder.  

From my desk, I spy 

two white-spotted, spindly-legged 

fawns frolicking under the mulberries.

When I speak to them gently,

they rotate already-large radar ears

toward me in curiosity,

then bound off into the oaks

after their mother.

Oh, to live seeing everything

so new, inquisitive 

about all earth’s inhabitants, 

all earth’s smells,

imbibing leaf and fruit and petal,

learning what to trust

and what is best to leave be,

to have a free-flowing body 

to experiment—

one that prances and sprints

across grassy hillsides             

and vaults over fenced orchards,

eyes drinking in the blue, blue sky.

(This poem first appeared in Grateful Living)

Photograph by Catherine L. Schweig

*For your own copy of Carolyn's new book, click here. 

Carolyn Chilton Casas is a Reiki master and teacher whose favorite themes to write about are nature, mindfulness, and ways to heal. Her articles and poems have appeared in journals and anthologies in multiple countries including The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal. More of Carolyn’s work can be found on Facebook or Instagram or in her poetry collection Our Shared Breath and her newly released second full poetry collection, Under the Same Sky (Golden Dragonfly Press, 2024).

*For submission guidelines, click here.*