March 20, 1971 ... Huntington, New York

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I had never seen anything like it

From every angle, for every step

you took, there were

perfectly straight white lines

dotted with white headstones

All identical

Linda said something to me

three weeks after the burial

I don't think you had
one thought about your father
during the whole ceremony.
Your head was spinning
with architectural glee 

I could not disagree

"Freud would call it

a defense mechanism"

Entering the National Cemetery,

the lead car was the hearse

The second car had

my mother and me

in the fron

with Linda and Judith

in the backseat

Followed by four cars

of Oliverios and Anastasios

Then six cars of everybody else

When we left the cemetery,

the order of the cars

was the same,

minus the hearse

We had to pass the office building

of the cemetery again

and that was when it happened

It was a good thing

that neither Sgt. Oliverio's

widow nor any of his offspring

had to pee

There were two very visible signs

on the office building

with arrows pointing

in opposite directions:

INTERMENT INFORMATION
and
RESTROOMS
 

I pointed out the irony

of this juxtaposition

to my mother

She laughed

I laughed

My two sisters laughed

louder than both of us

My mother slid her hand

across the seat

It would be the last time

I held her hand

Seven months later,

we re-entered the same cemetery

Behind the hearse,

I sat in the same seat

with my two sisters

I could hear my father smiling

as the coffin was placed

on top of him

Linda and Judy

heard the same thing

  

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Footnote
MARCH 20, 1971
HUNTINGTON, NEW YORK
is the copyrighted property
of LCSoL
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