The Olympic moment I remember most
Does not involve gold medals
Or bright, enthusiastic faces in the Parade of Nations.
It’s one man, a German,
Who went in for a dive and landed on his back
And scored zeros across the board.
Imagine his disappointment,
Rage, even:
How stupid,
How incredibly stupid.
When I watch the video on YouTube,
I want to thank him
And tell him how much he means to me,
For who among us does not say, Goddamn,
What I could have done different,
What I could have done better.
And isn’t that so much more human:
Our persistent
Unavoidable
Beautiful
Failure.