A unique opportunity has arisen for creative narration,
Courtesy of medieval charity the City Bridge Foundation,
They seek applications for the post of poet in residence,
The holder has to write a few poems and attend some events.
The fee's ten thousand pounds and the role lasts a year,
Imagine how this opportunity could advance your career.
The subject matter is bridges, the five maintained by them:
Tower, London, Southwark, Blackfriars and Millennium.
If you think it could be you there's one month to apply,
Though you'd be up against me, I'd be great and here's why.
Tower Bridge
It's world-renowned
Goes up and down
Not just iconic
But also Gothic
If there isn't a ship
You can walk over it
But it's not in the City
And that's a pity
London Bridge
Since a Roman pontoon first joined Londinium to the marshes,
Since soldiers passed through on arrow-straight marches,
Since horses and carts tripped across low timber arches,
How many have crossed the river here?
Since medieval masons built a stone span with central chapel,
Since traders drove their livestock to market to sell,
Since Kentish peasants revolted to raise merry hell,
How many have crossed the river here?
Since pilgrims passed through in reverent migration,
Since traitors were spiked for their bold defamation,
Since shops and houses burned in a great conflagration,
How many have crossed the river here?
Since Rennie's five stone arches were added upstream,
Since dockers and lightermen were held in high esteem,
Since bowler hats and omnibuses started to teem,
How many have crossed the river here?
Since the latest replacement with pre-stressed box girders,
Since cycle lanes were fortified to prevent further murders,
Since changing patterns quelled the armies of office workers,
How many will cross the river here?
Southwark Bridge
When City hustle grows too loud
I make my way to the quietest bridge
And stand in my granite pulpit
To watch the river
When boats pass underneath
I stand astride the ploughing waves
And picture their meandering path
Into the grey estuary
When the tide grows low
I step down to the muddy foreshore
And pick my way over glistening rubble
To my arched shelter
When dusk turns to twilight
I return to the illuminated deck
And let lamps cast my triple shadow
Onto the flow of history
Millennium Bridge
She kneels upon the silver blade,
A ragged hump beneath a shawl of blue,
Hunched and motionless in penniless plea,
Her hands outstretched, her cup on view,
They all walk by.
The tourists on their merry way,
Families, sightseers and giggling mates,
They cluster for a well-posed snap,
They've done St Paul's, the Globe awaits,
But all walk by.
Her crooked silhouette never flickers,
Until a string is tugged and one man stops,
He gets no reaction so checks his pockets,
And into her cup some coinage drops,
He didn't walk by.
She never saw her Good Samaritan, only felt.
Her thanks, if muttered, were never heard.
Her hand reaches briefly to grab the alms,
Before she refreezes amid the unseen crowd,
They all walk by.
Blackfriars Bridge
The thing about bridges is they link two sides like a screaming metaphor.
North and South, them and us, here and there, war and peace, rich and poor.
How much better life would be if we were all like bridges, united.
The thing about bridges is they rise above the torrent like a contextual trope.
The sea of misery, the river of nightmares, an emotional kaleidoscope.
How much better life would be if we were all like bridges, elevated.
The thing about bridges is they enable connections like a convenient simile.
Bringing people together, healing the divide, ending divergency.
How much better life would be if we were all like bridges, attached.
The thing about bridges is they stand firm in the flow like a clunking analogy.
Keep the faith, trust your gut, support the weak, have no truck with bigotry.
How much better life would be if we were all like bridges, strong.
The thing about bridges is they're an absolute gift to a wannabe poet.
You can churn out verses on any topic with diversity to show for it.
How much better life would be if I could pontificate about bridges, rewarded.
