Amanda Auchter
In the dream where my mom knows what day it is,
she can identify the president, too. I walk
through the back door of our old house, hear
the dog click across the tile, the tv on so loud
I have to yell hello. I throw my purse
on the counter littered with pill bottles
and bills, the cat’s bowl of food. My mom
is sitting in her chair watching Ancient Aliens
with my dad, who is still alive and awkwardly
hugs me when I walk into the room. I take them
to the store, help them pick out Cheerios,
instant coffee, a carton of eggs. I bring in the paper
bags of groceries and my mom calls me
by my right name, kisses me goodbye. You be good,
my mom says. Be safe. I call her when I get home,
say let’s go for a movie, soon. I want to take a pen,
circle the calendar, ink her into the empty space.
Amanda Auchter is the author of The Wishing Tomb, winner of the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Poetry and the Perugia Press Book Award, and The Glass Crib, winner of the Zone 3 Press First Book Award for Poetry. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Bennington College and lives in Houston, TX.
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