They were family—Anna Maria
& Denise against a wall of amulets—

stars of David, hands of Fatima,
crosses with & without Jesus,

Joey in back replacing clasps, Frank
Sinatra at Christmas. If I think

it’s ten years since they sold & fled
to Jersey where a Brooklyn accent

blends in, it must be at least twenty—
Starbucks, Katsui, Haute Boutique.

Last time I saw Joey he was trying
to explain why he couldn’t solder

the fake gold chain I bought
on E-bay back together.



Hilary Sideris is the author of five chapbooks, The Orange Juice Is Over (Finishing Line Press 2008), Baby (Pudding House Press 2009), Gold & Other Fish (Finishing Line Press 2011), Sweet Flag (Finishing Line Press 2014), The Silent B (Dos Madres Press 2019), as well as four full-length poetry collections, Most Likely to Die (Poets Wear Prada Press 2014), The Inclination to Make Waves (Big Wonderful Press 2016), Un Amore Veloce (Kelsay Books 2019), and Animals in English, poems after Temple Grandin (Dos Madres Press 2020).She grew up in Indiana but has lived in Brooklyn for most of her life.