Former Hopeful

He left the minors years ago
with an injury, has a full sleeve
of rust on his throwing arm,
refuses to play
in the company softball games.

On the wall behind his big desk
a black and white photo of himself
stretched out mid-pitch,
obvious bulge
in his cheek
from the chew.

I know for a fact
he still chews.
Sometimes
we have late meetings on projects
and since he trusts me,
he doesn’t hide
the Styrofoam cup
taken from the short stack he keeps
in the bottom left-hand drawer,
cups which
(when we’re done
and headed home)
he carries to his car
to be discarded somewhere
other than company grounds.