he barely reached five foot six
and weighed 120
until he started with the gym
those protein tablets
the banana shakes every morning
muscle sprouting all over
a 44 inch chest
17 inch arms
he could really kick ass
and loved to sit in bars
his baby face nursing a beer
until some big guy started crowding
then he would swing into action
and always seemed to win
he cried once
high on airplane glue and Thunderbird wine
his older brother dead
some freak accident
and all the muscles in the world
all the victories in bars
couldn’t help Kevin live up
to the brother’s ghost
in his father’s eyes