Second Coming No. 53 — March 13, 2025

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A poem-a-day protest against the threat posed to our democracy by the current occupant of the White House

Hilary Sideris
Man’s Man’s Man’s World

A handsome man heckles a friend and me, dining outdoors in Brooklyn Heights. He calls us grannies, says Kamala Harris is the type to declare war when she gets her period. We’re white, he’s Black. We don’t respond. He doesn’t leave. The waiter ushers us inside, where a band plays James Brown’s “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” I’m sleeping at Dave’s place across the street from mine while Dave’s in Spain. If I wanted, I could stand at Dave’s front window, watch Vincenzo in our loveseat, watching Roma-Lazio. Pigeons roost on Dave’s AC, their liquid sounds wash through the pane. I drink Amarone, which means bitter-in-a-big-way. I told Vincenzo I was done. He said Tu non sei una ragazzina. I’m no spring chicken.

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. Originally from Indiana and a longtime Brooklyn resident, she is a co-founder and curriculum developer for CUNY Start, a college preparatory program within the City University of New York.

Indolent Books and editor Michael Broder are back with another poem-a-day series as a creative response to the threat posed to our democracy by the current occupant of the White House. The plan is to continue for all 1460 days of the 47th American presidency.

Find out how to submit poems or flash prose pieces to Second Coming.

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