Sketches of bridges

Abstract

Yet precise,

and angled just so, 

use some brown

use some gold

Pencil here

Pencil here,

draw the curves just right,

use some grey

use some blue,

The river does not care.

Reviews

[Eilis]

Just rifling through my library and found this poem. Clicked on it to see what it was and found it's something I saved but never came back to comment on. So, here I am to graffiti the page with my nonsense. Another poem without a comment, too. Not sure how that's happened here. But, sometimes things just get lost.

One year my kids and I studied bridges. I teach them both myself at home. And, we were learning about what makes a bridge succeed and what makes it fail, and then we tried building our own. Nothing over a river, mind, just something simple with gum drops and toothpicks to span the dining room table. Yeah, they didn't hold up long. But, we learned something of the mechanics of these things, and the importance of minor things in the major picture.

Your poem made me think of that. Just the different way things can pass or fail, but also the different things that don't matter. Not everything matters, and to the river, the fact of the bridge matters very little. Except where the river has to barrel through debris because some effing bridge is clogging things up.

I think we try very hard (us humans) to convince ourselves that every detail from our own minds is crucial and potentially far-reaching. But so much of us is insignificant.

The river does not care. That's a great line.

[gram linski]

thanks again Eilis for diving in past page 3, lol, the river flows and goes and in time even the collapsed bridge will end up as pebbles in the sand,

[Einstein Noodle]

beautiful! title to strong reflective close .. beautiful .. books are written just about the bridges .. just as you say .. "Pencil here" "Pencil here" .. (love the surprise in that repetition .. of course i expected "there" ;) .. such a Zen power in closing .. nice work gram
E.

[gram linski]

thanks E, there is a Zen power in your review that makes my one hand clap, bowing it's self in adulation

[Einstein Noodle]

ahahahahaha oh shucks! :}

[John Alexander McFadyen]

A tight and smooth piece of writing Sir with really good descriptives. I could see an image of Newcastle with all of its bridges (was there a few weeks ago). The allegory is why bother when life simply flows on anyway so why bother treading carefully.

[gram linski]

my only memories of Newcastle are Gotham city and being chased out of the playhouse by loads of heavy metal geordies for having the cheek to shag their women, happy daze

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Wow not choosy then. Those Geordie lasses eat broken glass for breakfast!

[gram linski]

un pc. punchline; usually off ma dick !

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Off yer heed more like!

[gram linski]

you actually sound like a slag on the tyne, lol

[John Alexander McFadyen]

S'all mine, all mine!

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

I love this as Any of my friends on w c know I love to sometimes write about art in poems paints brushes easels etc but yours is beautiful and especially love how the river does not care ! Brilliant loved it

[gram linski]

Brilliant review, thanks, Julie, not an artist myself, the picture sort of painted it's self,