Two Poems

by Hilary Sideris

Analphabetic

Z is the sixth
letter in my yia-

yia’s alphabet.
Omega’s last.

She spoke a child’s
English. Greek alla

doesn’t mean God
or in the mode

of some other,
but but. Nai is yes.

My Joy

for Roberto

In Greek they say
mia xará, I’m well—

literally, a joy. Mia
is one, an, a—

nothing to do with
my. Grown people call

each other paediá—
children in a land

that’s backward,
wise. You say

ragazzi. I say
you guys.

Hilary Sideris has poems in recent issues of The American Journal of Poetry,Barrow Street, Bellevue Literary Review, Rhino, Room, Salamander, and Sixth Finch. Her most recent book, Animals in English, Poems After Temple Grandin, was published by Dos Madres Press in 2020. Sideris is a co-founder of the CUNY Start program at The City University of New York, where she works as a professional developer. Her grandmother was born in Chios.