New Poetry by Casey Killingsworth

The first

The first day on the railroad
I learned unlucky is just
another word for laborer.

The first time I had sex was
nine months before my son was
born.

The first time I got divorced I
figured out the things you
can’t believe could happen to you

happen to you. The first time I lost
a child I already had the grief stored
away.

The first sound I remember hearing
was my mother’s voice breathing
a prayer for my wonderful life.


- © Casey Killingsworth 2020

Casey Killingsworth has work in The American Journal of Poetry, Kimera, Spindrift, Rain, Slightly West, Timberline Review, COG, Common Ground Review, Typehouse,  Bangalore Review, Two Thirds North, and other journals. His book of poems, A Handbook for Water, was published by Cranberry Press in 1995. As well he has a book on the poetry of Langston Hughes, The Black and Blue Collar Blues (VDM, 2008). Casey has a Master’s degree from Reed College