Amy Thatcher
Amy Thatcher is a native Philadelphian where she works as a public librarian. Her poems have been published by Guesthouse, Bear Review, Palette Poetry, Harbor Review, Cherry Tree, The Journal, The Shore, Denver Quarterly, Split Lip, Copper Nickel and others.
Conversation at Birth
My mother smoked
in the hospital bed,
blunt as a book
of facts.
I asked my name.
Not Christine, she said,
you’re too fat.
What about Anastasia?
You don’t have the bone structure.
Her breath, a mix
of narcissis and ash.
That night, I must
have cried out—
my mother
stood over me, tissues
tumoring the arms
of her yellow sweater
like the list of my sins
she’d tend and tally,
loyal until the end.
She was predictable
as the dead, closing
what doors were next
to open—
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Image by Viresh Studio from Pexels
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
© 2025 Iron Oak Editions
Stay Connected to Our Literary Community. Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Listen:
