I watched its leaves yellow 

& fall. Was I twenty-one, 

twenty-two? No Google, 

no cell. I wondered why 

it pressed itself against 

the frigid pane between us 

& Brooklyn. I watered 

more. I rasped in radiator 

heat. Leaves yellowed 

& fell. What did I know? 



Hilary Sideris has recently published poems in The American Journal of Poetry, Bellevue Literary Review, Free State Review, Gravel, The Lake, Main Street Rag, Rhino, Salamander, and Southern Poetry Review. She is the author of Most Likely to Die (Poets Wear Prada 2014), The Inclination to Make Waves (Big Wonderful 2016), Un Amore Veloce (Kelsay 2019) and The Silent B (Dos Madres 2019).