Gut

It could have been that it was his day off work
but he was probably unemployed.

If I had a belly that big
I would not walk around with no top on.

He walked past a girl sunbathing in a bikini.
She'd taken off her top by pressing the same button
that took the roof down from her convertible.
She lay on a rolled out cardigan
with her eyes closed.
She may as well have been dead to him.

A couple sat on the park bench
and when they kissed they were soon spreadeagled
as though the plants and onlookers were furniture
and they were in their bedroom.

He walked past a single mother
reluctantly teaching her son to ride a bike
when he fell she screamed at him
as though he enjoyed the sensation of grazed knees.

When he walked past me he nodded
as though we were old friends
or perhaps he knew I was watching him
thinking about how he was the only one in the park
who was smiling.
His gut was massive.
it stretched his tattoos.