Allan Lake, the widely published, Canadian-born Australian poet, came away from his most recent visit to MONA with an "indelible image" of the artwork which is the title of this poem. He said, "My memory is excellent only if something makes an impression and that artwork certainly did. Being a poet, it was likely the muse would nudge me toward a poetic response."
Somewhere way south of north
or its opposite, there is an immaculate
pond of sump oil that perfectly reflects
the walls, the ceiling of the world.
Never a ripple on that shining surface,
just that diving board for the congenitally
bored or momentarily desperate diver
who would not consider cons.
I stand there, at absolute end, in silence,
with reverence for the creator and con-
sider his thoughtful invitation to do
the suddenly thinkable, even as performance
art, a brief one-act play perhaps for nobody
other than myself. To enter a black hole just
like that or not? That is the question.
And if not, what? That’s another question.
Allan Lake is originally from Saskatchewan, Canada. He has lived in Vancouver, Cape Breton, Ibiza, Tasmania, Western Australia and Melbourne. His poetry has won awards in the UK and Australia, and has been published in literary journals in 16 countries. His latest collection, "My Photos of Sicily", has been published by Ginninderra Press.
