Ralph

Ralph grew into his name,
tubby and alone
outside those circles of love
that chance merges into children.
He lost his pink cheeks
and gained a trade
and learned to smoke at office parties
and recited sports statistics
between card tricks
and grew wise enough
to be practical.
He emptied his love into
the hearts of strangers,
beneath bare bulbs.
He consumed life in spurts,
and was consumed in kind,
leaving a deck of playing cards
and an empty space
where once had been his body.


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