some poetry...

to the Tate

from Waterloo station

walk the length of the Southbank:

feel your nose and cheeks

harden

in the icy November sun.

the river is calm today

the bank is too

...quiet footsteps

trace their own paths:

winding ways with worn feet

walk slow

walk with your head up

eyes closed but open

and watch the breath from

warm bodies paint Christmas wishes in

the fading light

walk slow

walk mindful

ears open but closed

and hear the silence of the cold

dance with the noise of your thoughts

across the still river

catch your mind

as it wonders on summer legs

to your land far

and the people

whose hearts you know the insides of well

catch your mind,

call it back to this river bank,

to your cheeks pink and your nose

numb

keeping walking now

along Oxo Tower

peer into the boutiques

and then,

turn your heard

slow

to that river as your feet fumble

along Jubilee walkway

keep walking.

warm yourself for a moment

as you pass under the bridge

and fill your ear

with the busker’s xylophones

playing worn-out Christmas carols

that pull a smile across your face

and draw

an ache of longing

across your chest

keep walking

keep the river

on your left

and your chin thrust out

against the cold

once passed the bookshop,

look up to your right

and you will see it: a brown

expanse of nothingness

rising

into

grey clouds

wind your way

right left

right

mind the grey-haired coat and his dog

side-step the Spanish students

as you find your way

to the entrance

resist the gift shop

descend the flight of stairs

to the Turbine Hall

now, you are here:

stop.

gasp.

as you take in

the crack

running through your heart

which Doris Salcedo recreated

on the Turbine’s floor

for all the

world to see.

*written in response to Doris Salcedo’s Shibboleth, part of the Unilever Series for 2007, at the Tate Modern Gallery. for more information on the exhibition, visit http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/dorissalcedo/default.shtm

© Toni Stuart, London, 2007