Poet of the Month: “Grandma’s Fake Supper” by Silvia Bonilla

Two secret ingredients:
dried flowers

and toasted 
pumpkin seeds. 

A ceremonial tone 
interrupted by sips 

of infused iced tea.

Chamomile florets
in boiling water 

smell of sofrito 
tenderizing the browning 

meat.

A cold cast-iron pot
on no stove 

I look in 
her mirror 

where she sees herself  
and her mother 

and her mother sees
her mother

and all other mothers before that
returning like moons.

Silvia Bonilla holds an MFA in poetry from the New School. Her work has been featured in/is forthcoming from Pittsburgh Journal, Green Mountains Review, Rhino, Reed Magazine, Cream City Review, and Pen&Brush, among others. She has received scholarships from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, Colgate Writers Conference, and The Frost Place. She recently received a Fellowship from The Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts. You can find her at: https://www.bonillasilvia.com/about.html