The Ugliest Man

Like doing long division
on a soggy napkin or,
perhaps, an old dog that
waits for a belly rub,

the ugliest man kept up
a scavenger hunt that
ended many years ago.

Unlike the others, he
started from the bottom,
tried to work his way up.

The list ended at twenty.
The ugliest man hit sixteen.
No one else really kept track.

Like waiting for a red-eye
on a four day drunkard or,
perhaps, someone similar

to all of us on the inside.