-proof of the illusive Octavio Pieroni-

Octavio was baptized Octavio Pieroni;

his bride, baptized Pauline Giambastino, became

Pauline Pieroni, in Lucca, Italy in the late 18 hundreds.

after traveling to the New Country, periodic anniversary gatherings

were held eventually leading to a time when most nuptial celebrations

seemed to be received as impositions pressed upon the aging principals;

this time with Octavio and Pauline posing stiffly for snapshots

under a grapevine's tangled canopy with a backyard view of bundled,

rusted automobiles, each hulk older than the one pressed above it,–– 

each, once the pride of the open road, now stacked like.. 

–– like what, were these jalopies stacked? like pancakes? like slabs of history?

like cons of Purgatory panting for a quick spot of God?  

it's I alone who can answer these questions.

so much of everything travels at my side only to die along with me.