The Man Under The Bridge

• Tenniele Sims, Grade 10, Sunshine Coast Grammar School
• Poetry
• 2012

Excellence Award in the 'Legendary 2012' competition

I once was a traveller of bridges as well,
Crossing without thought, without care,
Of what lay beneath, or how they befell,
Just a means to travel from here to there,

Caught up in the race, with sights set high,
No time for reflection, engrossed in life,
My journey unfolding, our worlds collide,
Our hearts become one, as husband and wife,

But tragedy struck, one rainy night,
This bridge took a sinister hold of my mind,
Stricken with grief, and nowhere to hide,
I cast off my husk, left my old life behind,

I lost my love, my child, and my life,
It took their souls, now let it take mine -
But I must be stronger than fate, for I find,
That in not jumping they live on in my mind.