*love Of Bridges Poem by Lillian Susan Thomas

*love Of Bridges

Rating: 3.1


I used to think I was afraid of heights
Because I would become weak-kneed
When looking down from overpasses.
But once grown enough to recognize
The symptoms of love sickness -
How the heart and groin churn in the same direction -
Whereas with fear it is a more dizzy,
Sweaty, stomach-wrenching ordeal;
I have to admit I have a love affair with bridges.

My heart flutters over trusses of
A train trestle stretched across a gorge.
I find myself wooing old wooden wobbly ones
abandoned for all but hawk's nest,
but I become giddy with emotion
Next to the gleaming new construction.
I would tremble if I could place my feet upon
the Overseas Highway,
With its string of bridges that span
From Florida City to Key West
Hung like a strand of pearls
Around the blue elegant gulf,
Or as if some toe-shoed dancer,
Paul-Bunyan tall left silver-tipped traces
Of jetes, touching down
On each pad of land long enough
To fling the other leg leaping,
Leaving lines from key to key
To be etched with cement, cable and steel beams.

I am as amazed by this architecture
As I am by God's design
In the anatomy of amoeba and anacondas.
But not just bridges,
My heart and mind are ensnared
In the simplest scaffolding.
Under boardwalks and catwalks,
Under buttresses and bleachers,
The skeletal structure unfold as any camp bed,
Or like an ornate sandalwood fan opening.

My soul has already clambered up skyscrapers,
But I long to scale the joints and intersections of the Eiffel Tower
And to climb the criss-crossing arches of Cologne Cathedral
If only with my eyes,
And to ascend heart in hand
The arabesqued Alcazaba and minaret of the Alhambra.
I have fallen for their beauty from photos,
And like a mail-order bride,
I hunger for a more intimate knowledge.
I want to gambol the Golden Gate at sunset,
To stride the sun-risen air of the Grand Canyon Sky Walk.
I know these sites will shake awe into every fiber,
So I will pilgrimage to each as a holy Jerusalem,
And let the benedictions rain down like manna
From this ecstasy of design,
For these are the devotions of architects and engineers,
As much as my poems are my prayers.
And I will glow radiant from the inspiration.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Prince Obed de la Cruz 25 July 2009

hey, this poem here is good!

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Shashendra Amalshan 28 June 2009

this is a great narrative indeed! ! i m 21 and sort of a feel so afraid when i see, all the obstacles i m face.. i mean i vnt climbed much at all.. an inspirational write indeed! ! ! ! good write ma'am with lots of love shan

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Ashraful Musaddeq 20 June 2009

'As much as my poems are my prayers. And I will glow radiant from the inspiration.' An outstanding poem...

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Sally Carter 20 June 2009

What a wonderful poem Lillian. It grabbed me from the very first line and held my attention to the last. I specially loved the imagery of the dancer, but the whole thing is magic. I have just returned from a holiday in Switzerland, and it reminded me of some of the amazing railways and funiculars round the mountains, which certainly felt like the engineers' devotions. Just make sure your friends keep a close rein on you next time you go sightseeing!

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rago rago 20 June 2009

your glow radian from the inspiration and poems as prayers...... superb and a crest in ph............

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