the brethren gathered round
after word had gotten out
dented ping pong *****
usually accepted the reality
of a dent and what it meant

no more ping ponging around
or getting flung around
at warp speed Chinese style

no more the thrill
of the short under-spin
or the super-wide side-spin
the kicker or the ghost serve
fast down the line

the hook serve
(Mirano and Ito) style
or the thrill
of just slightly grazing
the net ever so fleetingly
in a mad dash
to the corner
of the table

sure clipping the net
and going over
is considered to be
a faux pas
or in proper parlance
a let that serves no purpose
other than a let service

who knew it would all
be so transitory
so transactional
sure there was hope
the boiling frog scenario
that was possible
but not mid-game

the solution was more trouble
than it was worth
the core of a throwaway culture
is so embedded
that just reaching out
for a new three star
fresh out of the box
replacement with the bounce
and ****** only a virginal ball
could provide not unsurprisingly
so satisfyingly that who could resist

so as the brethren gathered round
and looked up at their forlorn brother
teetering on the edge of the table
they knew and felt the inevitability
another dent and there would be
no coming back

"Don't do it"
"Somebody get a net"
"Go for it"
"Boiling water will bring you back"

suddenly
as if in slow motion
the ball flung itself
over the edge

into the blackhole
of an uncontrolled freefall
of top-spins side-spins back-spins
under-spins back top-spins
reverse back-spins

there was some kind of tunnel
a rapidly approaching light at the end
a shiny bright and luminous light
it was getting closer and closer

the brethren scrambled
in a nanosecond
the reel had been loaded
its life flashed before it
on some kind of cosmic screen
then the put-away stroke
set over

The final scenes of the film seemed more metaphorical than realistic.  Will you discuss them — or would that be part of the “road map” you’re trying to avoid?

Kubrick:  No, I don’t mind discussing it, on the lowest level, that is, straightforward explanation of the plot.  You begin with an artifact left on earth 4,000,000 years ago by extraterrestrial explorers who observed the behavior of the man-apes of the time and decided to influence their evolutionary progression. Then you have a second artifact buried deep on the lunar surface and programmed to signal word of man’s first baby steps into the universe – a kind of cosmic burglar alarm. And finally there’s a third artifact placed in orbit around Jupiter and waiting for the time when man has reached the outer rim of his own solar system.  When the surviving astronaut, Bowman, ultimately reaches Jupiter, this artifact sweeps him into a force field or star gate that hurls him on a journey through inner and outer space and finally transports him to another part of the galaxy, where he’s placed in a human zoo approximating a hospital terrestrial environment drawn out of his own dreams and imagination.  In a timeless state, his life passes from middle age to senescence to death.  He is reborn, an enhanced being, a star child, an angel, a superman, if you like, and returns to earth prepared for the next leap forward of man’s evolutionary destiny. That is what happens on the film’s simplest level.  Since an encounter with an advanced interstellar intelligence would be incomprehensible within our present earthbound frames of reference, reactions to it will have elements of philosophy and metaphysics that have nothing to do with the bare plot outline itself.

Q:  What are those areas of meaning?

Kubrick:  They are the areas I prefer not to discuss because they are highly subjective and will differ from viewer to viewer.  In this sense, the film becomes anything the viewer sees in it.  If the film stirs the emotions and penetrates the subconscious of the viewer, if it stimulates (however inchoately) his mythological and religious yearnings and impulses, then it has succeeded.