Black Hole Poem by GORDON GILHULY

I heard it on the news today
scientists are almost certain
that there is a black hole
at the centre of the Milky Way
at the centre of the universe
I could have told them that

there is a black hole
at the centre of the universe
there is no one here
you are not here
there is only the absolute blackness
of a dead star that once was
the ultimate source of light
around which heavenly bodies rotated
in intricate patterns of momentary freedom
in the joy of calculated returns

there is a black hole
at the centre of the universe
there is no one here
you are not here
there is only the crushing weight
of absence greater than gravity
the ultimate source of homecoming
that drew our earth-bound journeys
back from flights of dizzying exploration
back to the source of love

there is a black hole
at the centre of the universe
scientists are cautious insisting
that it is only a model, a theory
what do they know