Rain Forest Bridge

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bridge

Rain Forest Bridge

To cross
you must first
trust the strands

to hold.
The second tentative
step precedes
the next,

each successive one
gaining strength:
here to

there, now
to then, a summoning of
entreaties
within
one’s faith.

Vapor meets cooler air,
forming droplets,
clouding the far side.

I have feared endings
and the strictures of the unseen,

but here
in this vast
swaying,
I know

one line
bisects the void.

* * *

“Rain Forest Bridge” first appeared in Four Ties Lit Review in August, 2014.

A recording of it may be found on the Four Ties site.

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61 thoughts on “Rain Forest Bridge”

  4. I’ve walked on a bridge just like this over the rainforest in Ghana! It was frightening and exhilarating all at the same time! And I have pictures from my trip that look just like this, I wonder if it’s the same location or if many rainforest bridges just look the same.

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      • I guess it would make sense if they are similar…only so many ways to build a bridge in a rainforest! Also, when we were hiking through we saw one of the massive trails of ants you sometimes see in movies and our guides severely warned us not to walk on them or through their path. So many cool things in nature!

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    • Thank you, Joan. The early drafts looked quite different. In the end I used short lines and enjambment to attempt to convey that feeling. I’m so pleased it worked for you.

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  9. Interesting that my response to the poem and the picture was “I have feared beginnings”, that first scary, shaky step,and then your line was “I have feared endings”. By the way, I listened to your reading and you have a wonderful speaking voice. Now I will hear you each time I read.

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    • Hmm. That is interesting. I’ve never really liked my voice, but have grown accustomed to it. 🙂 And thanks for your kind words, Angela. There are a few links to other recordings on my Recordings page.

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  14. As I used to say when I lived in Minnesota, “Uff-da!” This one had both my stomach and my heart in my throat (the photo helped with the visualization), slightly dizzy as my imagination stepped out on that terrifyingly unstable-looking bridge to . . . what and where?

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  17. Great poem on multiple levels – takes me back to walking a similar (but shorter) bridge a few years back (I know that swaying!) – and takes me metaphorically into the intangible “void” of consciousness. Impressive.

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  23. Beautifully evocative, Bob, and consoling to my spirit. Especially this:

    I have feared endings
    and the strictures of the unseen,

    but here
    in this vast
    swaying,
    I know

    one line
    bisects the void.

    Thank you, dear Poet.

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  26. I have to hold my breath every time and, one of these days … entropy always at work … who knows? How important, to get from here to there? I think I might just stay where I am. But, thanks anyway.

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