ADIPOSE HARRY

At an early age he learned

the folly of swimming in wrong circles

and how some languages

have no word for webbed feet.

 

I'm going to leave you

Adipose Harry, his wife says.

You are morbidly obese.

Look past appearances, he protests.

I have a heart, pure and good.

Yes, but it's enveloped in fatty tissue

and you'll most likely die.

 

He waddles to the park to observe

the double life of the ducks

while thinking how to end it all.

One life on the surface

and something altogether different

going on below.

Appearances are everything.

 

Published in Prole 23 summer 2017