IconElegies

I was born poor, I died poor. I was a hero, then a murderer. Did you do it, O.J.? Did you kill your wife and that man? Those were the questions I heard. Nothing else in my life was interesting. If I did it, I probably wouldn't tell you about it. I was never convicted of murder. It was a circus. When I died, my children came to see me, even those whose mother died. Whether I went to heaven or hell, I won't tell. A Poet's Note. O.J. Simpson was a sports and movie star who was accused of murdering his wife.

You were born poor. You probably also died poor. God gave you a gift. You knew how to play football. You were a hero to millions, a church was founded for you, women worshipped you, and men envied you, when you were young and a god. Then you were a spitting image to millions. Fat, drug addict, unpredictable. That's what an athlete's life is like as a living god. No one expected you to live to be old. That's what booze and drugs do. You numbed your heart and soul with them. You didn't die forgotten, but we don't know about statues to you.