“More Likely: The Man” by Larry Sorkin

More Likely: The Man
– by Larry Sorkin

More likely the man is
and isn’t a statistic.
The scene: A man of indeterminate age sits
at his Formica table. We might
call his stare: vacant.
The time: isn’t important, there’s
a November fog and dark moves
seamlessly from night to day
and back. Besides, if he isn’t at work, he’s
just as likely: sitting like this, 2 a.m. or noon.
Specifically: he’s thinking: about her, the wife
who bailed with the kid. Is it a year now?
Next: his father already
a suicide at his age.
He feels: poor, a month behind on rent.
His car needs: insert list here.
She: most likely thought him a loser.
Just as likely: Vietnam/Iraq/Afghanistan drove her away:
the nightmares, the gun under his pillow.
At the table, this particular man
more than likely: has a beer in his hand, on
any given night or day,
more than likely: remote
nearby. Because he’s not black,
he’s less than likely: to have been in prison.
Because he’s not a woman
he’s less than likely: to complain of depression.
He’s lucky that way.

Larry Sorkin
November, 2013