Old Suspension Bridge

The old bridge is quiet. The starlings have gone to bed.
Their droppings whiten the swoop
of the catenary cables,
blotch the cracked concrete,
overlay the faded lane markers. Below the deck
the massive stone piers are sturdy as ever
but broken steel strings curl above the roadway
making this bridge into
a neglected guitar. The music of traffic
all rushes west now. The new bridge features
four freeway lanes each direction
tuned to the key of speed.

The old bridge’s owl-haunted towers
frame perfect slices of evening
in ogive arches.

Books Available
The Day of My First Driving Lesson
Country Well-Known as an Old Nightmare's Stable
High-Voltage Lines
Knocking from Inside