In 1934 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1935, to line up with the ceremony and hide the black and white bump hidden behind the three story cake.

In 1946 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1932 so he could get the right papers to work in the factory that needed his small hands to reach around the gears and get them moving again.

In 1950 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1933, so he could march with his older friends off to a peninsula and try to keep its halves from coming together.

In 1955 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1930, so his in-laws would feel right someone with such a strange name could take care of a young girl right out of the teaching college.

In 1959 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1936, to make his lie look all the worse in front of the pale hands hiding under the black cloud and make the papers file themselves easier.

In 1963 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1903 once he saw the familiar head that he liked explode in Dallas.

In 1968 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1932, to keep Uncle Sam from pointing his finger right through the door to his recently furnished home, dragging Pizarro all the way back to Asia.

In 1975 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1835 according to his daughter when he grounded her after finding a joint in her drawer while searching for her diary and the phone numbers of her friends, not that he was going to call them, only dial them up and listen to their voices…

In 1978 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1972, when the family was out and he watched cartoons all morning long.

In 1984 Pizarro Delacroix was in born in 1984 when he walked into the river with white clothes on and men in ties smiling around him.

In 1990 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1989, the stroke left him dependant on everyone he had tried to push away.

In 1998 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1933, because the checks told him so and he would not argue with them

In 2003 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 300 B.C. when he sat and stood in front of a black screen that he did not know how to bring to life.

In 2007 Pizarro Delacroix was born in 1934 in order to fill the space on the other side of the stone dash.

Previously published in Future Hygienic.

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Ben Nardolilli currently lives in Arlington, Virginia. His chapbook, Common Symptoms of an Enduring Chill Explained was published by Folded Word Press. Ben’s “Beowulf Versus the Spellchecker” and “A Get-Away”  are also in Reprint.

Author’s statement: “I am looking to give these poems a new home and new exposure, particularly since one was published in print and abroad. But more importantly, I want to see them in the same venue where they can now be compared and contrasted like different core samples taken into my past, since they were written at different periods in my life.”.