Michael Phelps

What an odd creature you are
at six-foot-four with your bat ears
and crazy mer-feet. You can
    do one thing spine-
tingling well, then revert
to your child smile and earphones;
you had to be protected by Debby
                     —“Mom”—
and Coach Bob himself, then
        released into the pool like
a trout. How you ripped

through it, sparkling
with crystals of speed,
sleek and whipping without a splash,
            zipping
to end-flip and then the point
where the swim stops
    and the roar begins.
For you. Michael. Just for you.
    But you must not let it
go to that dance of light where
the noise in your ‘phones
meets the silence of your form.
Alone you are perfect.
Remember. Stay tall,
               and long, long in the
                     water.


August 10, 2008
Bronx, NY