Best Footbridge Poems
At The Footbridge
Two Armies
One shoots off another salvo
The other fires back with gusto
Each offended
At the aggression of the other
At the footbridge
Foot soldiers die
In agony you hear them all bloodied, cry
War is a must and you wonder why?
Kings collect gold
Queens their ladies in waiting
Castles must be filled
With linens and fine silver laden
All with justifications
For the death of serfs and those of the invasion
At The Footbridge
At the footbridge where we would stand,
Watching steam trains, hand in hand.
The whistle blew, we shrieked with fright
And waved with excitement and delight,
Watching steam trains, hand in hand.
As locomotives steamed into sight
In rhythmic puffing, smoke, and light
At the footbridge where we would stand
When you were nine and I was ten.
Passengers waved to us, way back then.
Time passed with each passing train
And we would never return again.
Passengers waved to us, way back then,
Two children standing hand in hand,
In that past and fast fading land,
When you were nine and I was ten.
23/07/2016
For 'At The Footbridge' Contest
Sponsored by Julia Ward.
7/20/16
At the Footbridge
At the footbridge the young man,
brought young ladies to have his plan.
For a kiss in the right place,
to put the lass into a special space.
He knew it is true,
at the footbridge she'd remember who,
gave her her first kiss.
Shared with him they can reminisce.
Under the bridge the water did fall.
Sending up mist where they clung tall.
In their embrace was innocent, face to face,
which made this such a special place.
Then they journey around the pond,
holding hands; growing more fond.
The blue water and blue skies,
bade good luck for their enterprise.
To be closer to the lass,
with less time to pass,
for him to garner her garter
for the footbridge shown him smarter;
than those mere boys,
who still played with toys.
With trembling fingers I’d opened the bloodstained envelope
But I shouldn’t have been surprised at the state of the paper …
you work as a butcher
Your message was short -
Meet me at the footbridge at midnight
I’ll bring the blue tartan blanket .. I have a surprise for you
My heart skipped a beat when I recall the last time we met
We had a moonlight feast then made mad passionate love
Our bodies rising and falling like the tide
Then came crashing back down to earth on the blue tartan blanket
I hastily gathered together some tasty treats for our picnic
then put on my white gypsy top with black ribbon lacing
which accentuated my curvaceous figure
You could feast your eyes on me whilst we dined!
Hurrying along the towpath; my black cloak swirled in the autumn breeze
I felt like red riding hood carrying my brown wicker basket
I could see you standing on the footbridge
Your huge frame silhouetted in the moonlight
You ran to greet me and your lips crushed into mine
Arm in arm we strolled to the shelter of the gnarled oak tree
I spread out the blanket, unpacked the picnic and we ate hungrily
You asked me to close my eyes …I smiled and waited for my surprise
Two days later a dismembered body was found
Lying on a blood soaked tartan blanket
24th August 2016
At the footbridge over Crosswicks Creek
My parents met mid-span
He smiled at her, she shyly blushed
And a great love story began.
Daddy wasn't big on church affairs,
Mom a hippy from foot to head.
It seemed a natural choice, therefore
When at the footbridge they happily wed.
At the footbridge, my dad and me
Would fish for sunnies and trout
And watch the bushes that lined the creek
As mom berry-picked in and out.
And at the footbridge we stood and wept
When my daddy was called up to war.
We waved good-bye as he walked across
With his future and ours so unsure.
Mom and I walked the footbridge everyday
In eager anticipation
Returning home at the depth of night
Bathed in tears of fearful frustration.
For two years the footbridge was void of joy
Of family, love and laughter
No fish were reeled in from its rail,
No berries enjoyed after.
Then one gray day we began our trek
Hopes lower than the creek
And saw in the distance, at the footbridge edge
Everything we could ever seek!
At the footbridge over Crosswicks Creek
My parents met mid-span.
He smiled at her, she shyly blushed
As the three of us joined hands.
At the footbridge of time...
It lies just ahead, the path worn and clear.
How many others found their way walking here?
Oak and maple to the left, leaf covered river stones on the right
and in between, the well traveled path clear in sight.
So many times in the past, I parked the car
hiked up the cliff then found the path aligned with the north star.
Getting a foothold here and another there
your hand in mine as we stepped into the clear.
Straight away we walked together, crushed the leaves where we stood
with a crunch now and then of dry, broken potential firewood.
The hill stretched up and at the top we could finally see
pathways to the footbridge just below the trees.
We hardly spoke but silently we knew
choosing to take the steps forward without a clue
This path and the footbridge standing solidly in place
helps looking back with not one step to be erased.
Like the wood used to build it lay the stepping stones
to another place across the wide expanse still unknown.
Yes, been there once, five times maybe more
yet each new venture opens brand new doors.
This time, I walk alone with memory in heart
let me begin again with another start.
Step quick, step slow
contemplating when to go
across the footbridge of the past
to the present future is all i ask.
I met Regret today,
he sat down beside me--
whilst across the creek,
Opportunity circled about
Regret introduced himself,
between my bevy of sighs,
I stated, “I wish I'd never met you, sir”
to which he plainly replied,
“But then you'd never meet him...”
as he glanced beyond the footbridge
So I walked across the cobblestone,
--and we never spoke again
July 22, 2016
Current contest: I Got Zero, Nothing, Nada 2
Former contest: At the Footbridge (judged July 26)
Footbridge spans water.
Japanese garden waits you.
Waterfowl live here.
While standing on a footbridge, I sang lyrics to our love song.
I felt you take my hand in yours - as if you were at my side.
Raindrops fell on my cheeks, bringing me back to reality.
At the footbridge above fresh fallen snow
Lovers stood once, opened hearts in silence
The fates led them here from a first hello
Beneath sunset that was in compliance
A weathered gray bridge, this memory kept
New promises woven by tethered hearts
Though years have passed by time windswept
They stand again on the bridge, gray sweethearts
They'll wait the moment when the sun will set
To honor their first kiss from long ago
A footbridge crossing time turns a silhouette
To embrace a memory they both know
Two lovers, a kiss, a sunset aglow
At the footbridge above fresh fallen snow
contest At the Footbridge
7/25/16
At the footbridge she stands
in a gossamer bridal veil
torn between her two hearts
The pure promise of love in his eyes beckons her
Honor of parents and family pulls her back
He is of a different religion and culture
A forbidden fruit if she bites
would banish her from home and hearth
Her cheeks flush with
warmth of mom’s bosom
when she cradled her fevered head
Dad’s hand holding her tiny finger
swims in the pools of her eyes
The gaze of his deep eyes melts her
The beat of his heart she feels in hers
Visions of bliss in his arms allure and pull
Her young life quivering on a devastating choice
she ponders, holding the train of her dress
if the waters below could embrace and erase her pain
Written on:07/20/2016
Contest:'At the Footbridge' by Julia Wards
At the footbridge I stare in dismal despair
As the chasm beneath it shrieks
With its jaws open wide, I must swallow my pride
Set across to that fair distant peak
But, with its slats and its lats and high flying bats
This is not such a treat for the eyes
Frayed ropes, how absurd, with the sound of a bird
Mocking me with its dismal cries
It's a flaky, fickle, menacing path
With a threat every step of the way
My heart flutters and pounds, as I think of the ground
Then the span starts a giddying sway
Just a wriggly, wobbly, rickety weave
A thin line to prevent me from doom
A shifty, shaky, dizzying bridge
Above the drop to that valley of gloom
But beyond this folly, there's a glimmer of hope
As the end of the nightmare is nigh
There's friendship, peace, fire and warmth
So I begin with a step and a sigh
All becomes steady, all becomes clear
As my tread lends strength to the route
There's beauty so green and a feeling serene
Springing up through each stride of my boot
Then, no sooner begun, then the journey is done
I breathe a grateful prayer to the skies
With the fear left behind, I open my mind
And there ahead...is my prize
We sat, we played, we walked as if they were endless days Sitting on the high curb adjacent to railroad and wall Waiting alone, we threw rocks at anything, until something came We talked, we fought, we sat in deep thought pushing for funlearning in the small town’s streetnaïve in momentsWe drank, we sang, we kissed like there was no tomorrow running along the concrete soapbox, where there once were hand rails Dancing, trying new things on fragile wings of adulthood we loved, we hated, caring less that were not ten feet tall reality wakeslife gives and takes what it wantsescaping truthwe hurt, we caused pain, we stayed to long Lying on the sidewalk, across the way a long train blows We are standing in line as this life comes, halting dreams We can remember, we know from whence we came going back to changegratefully we do not have to behind us are tracks
Footbridge spans water.
Japanese garden waits you.
Waterfowl live here.
At the footbridge day and night
Dreams meet and dreams avoid
The footbridge is never annoyed
Smiles Sigmund Freud
At this end the highway
At the other the park
Connects the two contrast
The footbridge smiles in the dark
Dreams in the dark chamber
The fountains turn and toss
Listening to the footfall chaos
The footbridge I walk across
Hurry up says the red bird
The police inspector is there
I run across the footbridge
To my easy chair
On one side the blood and dust
On the other your restless bird
The footbridge one has to trust
To bear the world very hard
___________________________________
July 18, 2016