David Beckham has become an unlikely muse to Britain's poet laureate, who has written a verse about the soccer star's career-threatening injury. Carol Ann Duffy's poem imagines Beckham as the ancient Greek hero Achilles, who according to myth was dipped as a baby in the River Styx, making him invulnerable - except for his exposed heel, the origin of the modern terms Achilles tendon, and Achilles heel. The poem weaves the mythical story together with references to Beckham's life, including his marriage to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and his experimental fashion sense. It speaks of the hero concealed “in girls' sarongs; days of sweetmeats, spices, silver songs.” It describes him on the field, “his charmed foot on the ball.” “But then his heel, his heel, his heel...” Duffy told the BBC Tuesday she was inspired because Beckham “is almost a mythical figure himself, in popular culture.” Duffy, a soccer fan, said she had been moved by the image of Beckham in tears at the side of the pitch after his injury. But she said she doubted she would be hearing from Beckham.
