Bridges of Hope

image by Glenn Buttkus

Bridges of Hope

“Men build too many walls, and not enough bridges.”

--Joseph Ford Newton.

Poets know that words

    are the concrete and steel

           we need to build bridges--

    words that can touch,

                      have effect,

                      penetrate deeply

                      cajole gently,

                      elicit joy,

                      celebrate liberty,

                      create affection,

                      conjure love and

                      reinforce positive ideals.

Most friendships, family units &

diplomatic solutions to volatile situations--

all are bridges,

all connect two separate sides,

all provide access & egress,

whether made up of rope & nets,

                                 cable & iron,

                                 wood & nails, or

                                 skin and bone--

these bridges are essential as

they complete disparate factions

and emotional bonds.

                         Still, one must accept not

                     all bridges are bright and

                  shining, sweet & smiling,

               for there are bridges, like

            the infamous one from El

       Paso to Juarez that can lead

   to a hellish haze, deception,

danger, and even death.

    Defective bridges, like the old

         one at the Tacoma Narrows,

              dubbed as “Galloping Gerty”,

                 can fail and fall down. It is indeed

                 sad that sparse government funds 

                 that are allocated are less than 

                  adequate to bolster our nation’s

                  crumbling infrastructure.

Hell, I drive across bridges daily

that sway, creak and wheeze--which

leads me to nightmares of a bridge

disaster, where my car drops hundreds

of feet into chilly dark water, and I must

facilitate an escape from the vehicle

while underwater.

                   

                   These days I have more broken

                    bridge nightmares than those 

                    where I’m caught in a house fire,

                    being eaten alive by a grizzly bear,

                    or being shot while shopping at a

                    mall, working at the office. eating

                    at a restaurant. or watching a parade.

On a happier note, as a photographer I find myself

fascinated by bridges of all kinds, and I snap images

of them like others do of cathedrals. For me, trestle

bridges are the most interesting, their naked steel

girders and massive rivets reminding me of those 

super--structures reaching for the sky on new buildings, 

and those celebrated photographs of steeplejacks sitting

on suspended girders eating lunch.

Bridges are needed

to span gaps, relationships,

and grand ideas. 

                 

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub