Alan Wells

was a hero of mine when I was younger,

when I first realised

what the Olympics meant,

what it could inspire,

what it could be

if not allowed to be dominated

by politics and cheats

or death’s unfavourable hand;

the dip

of the head at the line,

something I loved.

Nearly forty years on,

past the excuse of the biggest cheat

of them all, an athlete that destroyed

my faith, past vainglorious,

past deception and onto spectacle,

onto breathing legend and admiration

of three Olympic Games

in which the one hundred

meter is safe against tarnish;

the Bolt of lightning, brilliant

in its timing,

magnificent in its success

and a message across time,

that Lightning is worth feeling

the rapture for.

 

Ian D. Hall 2016