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Hilary Sideris
Spandex
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My
neighbor three floors down, ten
years younger, thought I’d be flattered
that he
wanted to jump my bones. I was.
I’d never had friends with benefits,
but I was
stretchy, love-averse, harrowed
by marriage & divorce. Pleasure
without amore,
passion sans suffering?
Why not? Too soon, the benefits ran out—
he met
somebody serious who wouldn’t
understand. One day he found my spandex
shorts
under his bed, thought they were his,
put them on, or tried, and sent a pic.
That’s
some slim waist
you’ve got.
grief is
for weight loss, he added
Or I’ve got killer quads.
I lived in terror of earthworms.
Nightcrawlers
wriggled
on the puddled road I had to cross
to get the
mail. We cut them
open in 9th grade Biology.
They have
five hearts.
I can still smell formaldehyde.
Last night
I didn’t sleep.
I read about the new Health czar—
the
blendered mice, grilled dog,
bear dumped in Central Park.
My wealth
advisor wants
scenarios, best & worst case:
I die
while being anesthetized,
a tapeworm eats my brain.
I tell my sister today.
What were
we arguing about?
I tossed a napkin at his head.
He grabbed
my wine glass,
gulped my pinot grigio
& spat
on me—his gesture
both ancient & infantile,
as she
points out.
In all the photographs
we smile.
I tried to stay.
She calls him borderline.
She’s thought
so for a while,
but didn’t say.
years younger, thought I’d be flattered
I’d never had friends with benefits,
by marriage & divorce. Pleasure
Why not? Too soon, the benefits ran out—
understand. One day he found my spandex
put them on, or tried, and sent a pic.
Or I’ve got killer quads.
Five Hearts
As a child on a flood plain,I lived in terror of earthworms.
on the puddled road I had to cross
open in 9th grade Biology.
I can still smell formaldehyde.
I read about the new Health czar—
bear dumped in Central Park.
scenarios, best & worst case:
a tapeworm eats my brain.
Borderline
It happened months ago.I tell my sister today.
I tossed a napkin at his head.
gulped my pinot grigio
both ancient & infantile,
In all the photographs
She calls him borderline.
but didn’t say.
BIO:
Hilary Sideris is the author of the poetry collections Calliope (Broadstone Books, 2024), Liberty Laundry (Dos Madres Press, 2022), Animals in English (Dos Madres Press, 2020), The Silent B (Dos Madres Press, 2019), Un Amore Veloce (Kelsay Books, 2019), The Inclination to Make Waves (Big Wonderful LLC, 2016) and Most Likely to Die (Poets Wear Prada, 2014). Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. She is a co-founder and curriculum developer for CUNY Start, a college preparatory program at CUNY.
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