Romulus and Remus (for Paul Violi) [by David Lehman]

Paul VioliLook for Remus in the index of a book

And you are bound to get “See Romulus

Which is perfectly logical but makes me wonder

About indexes, or indices, and why I prefer the former

As the plural except in a financial context, and how

An index to a book that may not exist may imply

A whole biography, as my friend Paul Violi

Showed in his poem “Index.” My late friend

Paul Violi, whom I still see in the street

Sometimes, walking along at an unhurried pace

So if I walk fast I will catch up to him at the corner

Before the light turns green.

IM Paul Viioli, 20 July 1944 — April 2, 2011)