Rowell’s Bridge – Contoocook, New Hampshire
Rowell’s Bridge over the Contoocook River
timber trussed
thoroughfare
easement for
cattle and sheep
in respect of the
cold rushing river
colonial enterprise
rural existence
an era long gone
yet the woodwork
persists in its
purpose the well
crafted joinery
still at its service
alive with each
subtly perceptible
movement
conduced by the
water-swept wind
exclamations of
creaking fatigue
and deep rumbling
groans giving voice
to a dogged
New Englander
character leaving
no question
but that it is
ably determined
to keep keeping on
to accommodate
even the wandering
passage of history
carried by ghosts
who seek rest
somewhere over
the river beyond
the unknown
other side
of tomorrow
(I cross this bridge each time I leave my house)
Lovely! 🙂
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thanks kindly
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Wonderful poetry deeply etched. And beautiful photos.
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glad you enjoyed them
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Charming tribute to those rare covered bridges.
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one of the joys of living in northern New England
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Probably the best travel guide written. A new career?
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it can’t compare to the millennia that surrounds you – but it’s enough to settle my heart nicely
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Then that is a good thing
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Beautiful bridge!
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it is, indeed
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It is a wonder that your covered bridges survive the test of time while our steel ones rust and fall apart . . . The syrup runs deep in you New Englanders . . .
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unlike me, it’s been here since 1853 and is scrupulously maintained – my 12 years here don’t qualify me as a New Englander – but I deeply admire my neighbor natives
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What a pleasant journey that must be.
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especially thrilling for this old city boy
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Beautiful poem to “your” covered bridge. For five years I lived in Ashtabula County, OH, where there are about a dozen covered bridges. They are living wonders.
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as a long time city boy, they’ve always fascinated me
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