A NEW BRIDGE
Lines for a young couple
Between you two a bridge has formed
that you’ve been building with your hands,
your arms, your shoulders and your wings
over time’s deep running river below.
Your love and iron trust bring it high
each day out of thin air.
Believing in you and in what cannot
be seen lets the rest of us brave a look
at our own past promises and vows
broken on the rocks; yet here we find
those old shards you’ve used again,
fitting parts of your new bridge.
Your love heartens us to trust our own feet
to thin air on this bridge and then peer down
at fish rising out of time’s dark fathom,
renewing our hopes, fulfilling our prayers,
flashing tokens from their rich-jeweled scales
over all creatures as we whisper once more
our own vows, breathing this new air
high, high upon your bridge.
Eugene Marckx