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Poetry Magnum Opus

Moments on a bridge


Frank E Gibbard

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Frank E Gibbard

I stood on a bridge over a railway

 

It seemed but moments I so stood

 

In the same spot overlooking this.

 

Before, before, long years ago had

 

As a boy craned to catch excitedly

 

The throbbing great machine pass,

 

Jumping to see over the wall, just.

 

Today I leaned on the very parapet

 

Waiting for a bus, and saw a train.

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Hello Frank,

 

 

The seemingly innocuous act of standing on a railway bridge takes on a darker and tragic aspect towards the close of the poem. I love how you suggest this instead of telling - the poem is all the more powerful in the way it resonates with the reader.

goldenlangur

 

 

Even a single enemy is too many and a thousand friends too few - Bhutanese saying.

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This poem moves me in the same way that Wordsworth's "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802" impassions me. It harnesses a moment and makes it eternal. The poem is perfect -- not too long, not too short, just right.

 

Tony

Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic

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