Seven Arch Bridge
Posted On 02/05/2023

O wonky bridge stuck together
don’t stumble or stagger or fall
Nervous knees knock
wondering if the weight
of a glance upwards will make
bricks cascade to the floor?
Stopped still, sheltered,
two bottled-up people study the falling rain
drips and drops and drops and drips
drops and drips and drips and drops
outside low sodden grey clouds
cry their hearts out once again.
Under higgledy-piggedly
rough hewn stones,
respite unexpectedly reigns:
I really like this bridge!
What stones are they?
How old is it?
Who built it?
How did they build it?
I love this bridge!
Sentences pour out of your mouth
Questions paw at the walls and roof
bent backwards far into the big arch
filling the space with wonder
and awe and interest and joy
and life and curiosity and more.
Fizzing air holds high the bridge.
A child bursts clear out of the sea.
O wonky bridge stuck together
stay standing forever—
The rain stopped!
A world slipped away through the cracks and the seams.
Bottles return back to the shop, for a deposit of 10 shiny new p.

#SevenArchedBridge #Rivington #LordLever #AfricanBridge