We learned to tie our own shoelaces, Then walked out on each other. Neither of us wears Our father's name.No family crystal to gather for our gaze, Our heritage is a history of walls: As cold as The Iron Curtain, As broken as the Brandenburg Gates. No models but a muscular mother tough as prayer book leather.Two tiny tots nine hot dogs high, how we hugged each other with nightmares, not even inner space to protect us from dormant monsters with daddy's face.Reunited future shock years later, by the loss of that father.A family more split than the fault lines in the collision between Europa and North America; My sister and I cannot look at Old Country pictures of rosaries and rue reposed on dead relatives, dropped into our lives like leaves from sacred oaks.Out of leftover love, we discover what it is to be sister and brother, trade a dahlia for a kiss, hesitant to touch hands.Her warmth is the sum of summer. Her eyes, blue of my blue,A doll found in the river

it is about step brother and step sister, or close friends, who are separated as young children, but reunited years later by the loss of the mysterious father figure.the poem tells of a depressing past, a sad family situation but with the only hope and acceptance found in the friendship of each other.

its fucked up idk a brother and sister who have difernt fathers they never met are falling in love

I think it's about asking a girl, "Which way to the bathroom?"

My take on it is: they are a brother and sister given their mother's maiden name as she raised them alone. Though they were told stories of how bad or he probably was in out of their mother's life in an unfortunate situation of some meanness. That is why they had nightmares w/ his face being that of monsters. They grew up learning for their selves, as mom might have had to work allot. But, as soon as they were grown they went separate ways and quickly to escape their childhood and together they couldn't do that. Lost touch until dads funeral when finally they could find the pleasure and beauty of being a part of another. Family was now a good thing.....

The first answerer gave you a good start. It sounds like they might be sister and brother who were separated around age 5 or 6 or 7, which is about the time most children have learned to tie their own. You might want to research the Iron Curtain, the Brandenburg Gate, and German Catholics to understand some of the references better. I would say these children have German ancestors based on the references given. "Old Country" refers to Europe. Rosaries refer to a string of beads and a cross used by Catholics in prayer and religious rites, like doing penance for something done wrong. "Rosaries and rue reposed on dead relatives" is a nice example of alliteration, with the letter "r" repeated 4 times. It may be that years later these children are bitter about being separated. I wish the poem said a little more about where they grew up, whether in an orphanage or foster homes or something, but it sounds like they have a hard time looking at photographs of relatives who seemed pretty pious or religious but had not taken the children in when they needed to be looked after. I get the impression the mother died first, and then someone found them after the father died. Perhaps he was well-known, or something happened that someone came to find them. I like the description of how they are "9 hot dogs high" as if they used to enjoy eating hot dogs and figured out how tall they were one time, the way siblings might stand back to back and see who is taller. The reference to hot dogs instead of say, German bratwurst sausages, makes me think the children ended up in America. You may have seen TV shows where relatives who haven't seen each other in 15, 20, or 30 or more years suddenly meet, anxious and hesitant at the same time. The last image of "a doll found in the river" makes me think of the time I found a doll in an old, dirty house, and although I was delighted to find the doll, as it was the same kind of doll I had loved as a child, I was reluctant to embrace it right away because it needed to be cleaned and fixed up. If you think of a doll in the river, the doll's hair and body and clothes might be ruined or at least a little soiled or damp, making it difficult to hug or claim right away. It's like a comment on how feelings are mixed at finding each other again. Hope that helps.