Larry Bird

Larry Bird
with much love and tenderness
and a killer jump shot
far from the hoop
a three point bomber
like a tight rope artist
an in your face dunk
and an Ovid-the-poet passer
like Apollo's first love,
the mountain nymph, Daphne,
striking fear
into the taller players hiding in treetops
unceremoniously
dreaming of defeat at the hands of the white kid
from French Lick.