The man in the red apron followed
me home from the thrift store.
He came right through my front
door after me.
"What do you want?" I asked him.
"I want to be loved and cared for"
he said simply.
His answer moved me intensely.
Because that's all I've ever wanted, too.
"Sit down and I'll feed you" I told him.
I brought him leftover chickpea salad
and a hunk of buttered Irish soda bread.
Then he lay in front of the fireplace
and went to sleep.
I covered him with an old blanket.
Then sat in my recliner and began to think.
I was soon asleep as well.
When I woke up he was gone.
My silver ashtray was gone.
And the glass candy dish,
with Skittles in it. Gone.
Back at the thrift store they
didn't know where my red apron
man was.
He lived on the street, they said.
He only worked there part-time,
on weekends. They said his name is
Rudy. But I call him my Red Apron Man.
I know he'll come back. He has to.
He left his red apron in my laundry hamper.
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