1

The obstetrician said,
“If you don’t want her
I’ll take her home with me.”
She said this to all her first time Moms
She was first herself:
First Woman Board-Certified Surgeon,
shunned by male colleagues
She only did “female operations”
to keep the peace. When I dropped
my little brother on his head
twelve years later,
she said I must forgive myself
for my mistake.

2007

194?

Nyack, New York : The Hudson River

2007