This month, it was my ambition to create a collaborative piece with a sports photographer whose work I really admire.
That photographer is Mark Pain. Mark was named Sports Photographer of The Year in 2011 at the British Press Awards. You can see more of his work here. The London 2012 Olympics is now barely six months away and one of the events I am most looking forward to watching is the Diving which will take place at the Aquatics Centre. I’ve always found there to be something mesmerising about the sport of diving. For my latest piece of writing I have sought to encapsulate some of the mental and physical processes, the concentrated preparation and overall repetitive, if not addictive pursuit for perfection, that this sport resembles. I approached Mark about using his photograph which accompanies my poem as it encompasses the art that is diving, albeit within that split second in which he took the picture. The first time I saw the photo I couldn’t help but notice how the residue of spray from the diver’s hair inadvertently creates the image of a circle, and, in my mind, one of the five Olympic Rings. The circular motion and resemblance we are left with is iconic of the underlying process of diving - the mental dedication of doing something over and over again, until one is perfect at it. DIVE WITH ME Through the blue, again and again Fingers are raw; I can feel it, the pain Take the impact, correct the momentum Climb all the steps, ad infinitum Hear the instruction, try to agree Wipe all the remnants of water from me Approach, then focus, be still and leap In flight, make it right, succeed and reap There’s a second, I feel it, isolation mid-air Wait for it, tumble, twist and prepare Breath holding firm, stomach held tight Snap out, align and glide out of sight Ears, mind and soul are blocked Re-enter, rejoin and pray that it clocked Look up above you and shake off the wet We acknowledge your dive, lest you should forget
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