Traversing bridges,

in search of a span,

over waters clear and serene,

in the depths of which,

lie truths unknown, vestiges unseen,

remnants of self, tales unspun,

and ego-trippings come undone…

traversing bridges,

in search of the span,

under which such waters have flown,

to look forward we are inclined,

to look back, we are prone, 

'cause no less than the future,

the past must be(come) known…

traversing bridges

contemplating with lament,

the depth, the degree and the extent,

to which things once real dissipate like vapor, 

and condense like the clouds into rain,

from majestic redwoods to tissue paper,

from Joplin to Coltrane…

to memorials and tributes,

dedicated to the pains,

of wounds flushed with tears,

in which the salt remains.

traversing from moment to moment,

from lifelines to lifetimes to've lived and learned,

of temples built … and bridges burned.

JW

2009