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 riverIf you could, just go over what each line means, as some parts don't make sense to me. Thanks

Who is the author? I would love to know more information, as I have never read this one before. Here is what I am guessing, though.It is about two children, siblings, who for some reason do not have their father's last name (it suggests this is their mother's choice). Their only connection is their mother. They don't feel connected as small children--they have no family "heritage;" no knicknacks to cherish, only their mother.The connections they have seem to be abuse by their father; this is when they hug each other in the night. They separate and are reunited later when he dies. When they reunite, it is strange for them (a family more split that the fault lines between Europe and North America...) and it is suggested they should be a family, but they don't know how to feel about it.In the last stanza, they somehow connect (out of leftover love, I love that line) and awkwardly find the start of a brother/sister relationship..he is amazed and touched by this discovery.Hope this helps.