Sunday 9 November 2014

Steel bridges










I could make up the crooked bamboo bridges,
picturesque as a child’s first sketch, a rustic
stretch of water lily, the hard mud ridges
between paddies- an instant airy trick;
but my truth’s in urban spaces, the street
choked with smoke from exhausts, rush-hour traffic
inching toward where the factory fumes meet
low river mist, those the facts; not idyllic.


The truth is our bridges were steel, robust
and indestructible between this side
and that. And yet.  And yet the connects just
snapped, no way to the bridge, to firmly stride
back again through the lanes of smoke and dust,
across the river and close the divide.





Because I heard Lopamudra sing Sunil Ganguly's poem, Sankota Dulche (the bridge is swaying) ....and because of a death anniversary, you'd think that these dates would slip one's notice after some years, after all so many other things do, memory isn't what it used to be, but no, they somehow wriggle into the brain...and also because a friend mailed me...and my Sundays happen to be your Mondays... a multi-pronged attack of...not quite the blues, but blueish... autumn is a time of many personal milestones, some happy, some sad, a bittersweet season.






9 comments:

  1. Hi Nila .. bridges connect don't they, yet they break too - be they bamboo or steel ... sadly there's always a weak point somewhere ...

    Thanks for this .. Hilary

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    1. Sometimes they don't break but still our paths lead us away from them and there is no way back. Thanks for stopping here. Have a great week.

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  2. Bridges can be very metaphoric when thinking about life and death. I loved your poem as always. I hope there is always a way back.

    Denise :)

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    1. Not in the case that I was thinking of...but never say never :) at any rate hope to find a bridge back to yours pronto :)

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  3. So picturesque your words here. I can feel the wistful sorrow and acceptance of this word picture. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Lovely poem well written. There were times when we had bamboo and wooden bridges but now most of them have been replaced with steel and concrete bridges. Surprisingly some of these steel bridges have broken and killed many people. Best wishes

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    1. Bamboo/wood is still used for purely ornamental bridges, like the one in the picture above. You make a very interesting point about steel/concrete bridges killing people! Glad you liked the poem. Thank you for coming by

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  5. It is sometimes good to take a break from reality as we know it. The first few lines paint a picture of rustic beauty and a more relaxed time.

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