Call of the Void
Over the New River Gorge, a bridge
kisses neighboring ridges
with both its steel mouths, hollering into the valley.
Its like the distance
between us,
and I know we both feel the gap
like I know how, over ages, a river ran
roughshod over the hard Nuttal sandstone–
98% quartz, a stone that represents healing,
a fact which has always been ironic to me.
8 thoughts on "Call of the Void"
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What an opening image!
Beautiful place. While I was whitewater rafting there years ago, we were nearing that bridge, while people were base jumping off it.
I love the way you end the poem Shaun.
I love how you connect bridge with the people! Giving life to the scene with the mouth and kisses is superb! Beautiful journey to an engaging end.
I, too, love the kissing and hollering bridge, but I also like the repetition of “I know,” the use of “over ages,” and the line break after “distance”
like the metaphor between humans and earth
new river gorge takes the breath and leaves thoughts of mortality
i gravitate towards melancholy and this is so fulfilling.
this poem howls