A Man On The Bridge! Poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi

A Man On The Bridge!

Rating: 4.8


On that old bridge, during the last fight,
Threw the ring into the river to drown and rest,
Returned to find that young heart in the old body,
Still holding the placard of ‘I am sorry' to the wind,
Looking for the ring of love that he had lost,
In the new bridge, as the old is closed and secured,
The elderly man is searching for his sweet heart,
In every young woman who passes by his side,
from left to right, right to left and top to bottom,
Let people call him ‘dirty old man',
Without knowing his life long search for his young love,
Let people name him after every name of the devil,
As he does not realize that his love has gone old and cold,
But he has that hope, on the sidewalks of the bridge,
That connects the two different banks of life and death,
Rises up for the small ships to pass through,
The clocks at the bell towers are changed,
the noise of the bells remind him that he is alive.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Gajanan Mishra 03 January 2013

O very fine. The man on the bridge. That connects life and death. Congratulation for the poem.

4 1 Reply
Savita Tyagi 05 February 2013

Read it before. Read it again. Most beautiful and tender write. So glad poem hunter has put it for poem of the day. congratulations.

3 0 Reply
Hardik Vaidya 05 February 2013

Veeraiyah, this work of yours to me as a reader is perhaps the first biography of someone written down as a poem. Biography of unrequited love. I can through your poem see the mans wrinkled face, the sun burnt skin, his eyes, hungry, since an eternity for some one. I envy that moment which gripped you when you wrote this poem. This poem hangs around every single bridge ever built.

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Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan 07 July 2013

Excellent one. You have a flowing style of expression - a rare ease with words and thoughts....

3 0 Reply
Kee Thampi 05 February 2014

the best poem ever read Rises up for the small ships to pass through, The clocks at the bell towers are changed, the noise of the bells remind him that he is alive.

3 0 Reply
Rajendran Muthiah 19 April 2020

Some images coming to our mind are: throwing of the ring into the river; devilish curses heaped on the old man; the old man's searching for the young love; a river two banks of life and death(this image is new) , the old man's sc standing on the sidewalk of the river. The contents of the poem has such beautiful images.

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Hazel Durham 04 September 2016

Regrets are the hardest emotions to try and live with this old man longs to see his beloved again, in his mind she is still young and the love of his life. His pain is brought to life in this beautifully written poem as he wishes he never thrown the ring into the river like he had thrown his life and love to drown in the cold waters of losing his only love!

1 0 Reply
Babatunde Aremu 04 July 2014

Wonderful poem written from deep experience. The poet succeeded in bringing to fore what we all go through in life. Kudos!

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Akhtar Jawad 18 June 2014

I was amazed. I am myself an old man. I am often misunderstood. When I see a piece of beauty I never desire to have it. I just remember my past lovely youth, the sweet memories make me happy and I smile. Some times I comment on my friendly poetesses in a manner which makes them unhappy. Sometimes my pen is slipped and I am careless in expressing myself, e.g., if I write, I love You., it does not mean I am your lover, I haven't seen you, I don't know you and I am too old to love someone in the commonly understood sense. I simply mean your poems are beautiful and I love your poems. I am thankful to you that this lovely poem inspired me to write this comment and gave me an opportunity to clarify me and my comments.

2 0 Reply
Geetha Jayakumar 05 February 2014

A Fantastic poem. Old man forgot that, time has taken him too far away and he no longer young for he is searching for his love of younger days. Today he standing on the bridge that is connecting life and death, only the noise of the bell remind him that he is alive. Beautiful flow of words... Congrats...This poem is chosen as poem of the day! ! !

4 0 Reply
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