It's all trivia,
you know,
places and numbers
you keep in your head
and refer to from time to time.

I've beaten Maris;
I got him by one.
I got Emily by two,
with eight hundred more to go;
I'll get that,
barring such things
as brain damage
or sudden death,
but then it won't really matter,
at least not to me.

And I've managed
to keep my following,
the faithful few
who swim silly circles,
asking only to be fed
and have their water changed
once a month.

July 1984