Because The Bridge Eventually Wearies of Traffic

The Bridge Poem 

 by Kate Rushin

I’ve had enough
I’m sick of seeing and touching
Both sides of things
Sick of being the damn bridge for everybody
 
Nobody
Can talk to anybody
Without me
Right?
 
I explain my mother to my father
my father to my little sister
My little sister to my brother
my brother to the white feminists
The white feminists to the Black church folks
the Black church folks to the ex-hippies
the ex-hippies to the Black separatists
the Black separatists to the artists
the artists to my friends’ parents…
 
Then
I’ve got to explain myself
To everybody
 
I do more translating
Than the Gawdamn U.N.
 
Forget it
I’m sick of it.
 
I’m sick of filling in your gaps
 
Sick of being your insurance against
the isolation of your self-imposed limitations
 
Sick of being the crazy at your holiday dinners
 
Sick of being the odd one at your Sunday Brunches
 
Sick of being the sole Black friend to 34 individual white people
 
Find another connection to the rest of the world
Find something else to make you legitimate
Find some other way to be political and hip
 
I will not be the bridge to your womanhood
Your manhood
Your humanness
 
I’m sick of reminding you not to
Close off too tight for too long
 
I’m sick of mediating with your worst self
On behalf of your better selves
 
I am sick
Of having to remind you
To breathe
Before you suffocate
Your own fool self
 
Forget it
Stretch or drown
Evolve or die
 
The bridge I must be
Is the bridge to my own power
I must translate
My own fears
Mediate
My own weaknesses
 
I must be the bridge to nowhere
But my true self
And then
I will be useful

Being Prompted, Jan. 23, 2012

I love this prompt, because I am so impressed by its author.  Those of you who know me will quickly agree that Chookoolonks is one of my favorite sights on all the web.  Mrs. Walrond has the remarkable talent of finding beauty wherever she seeks it.  It is seen in her photographs, it is embedded within her thoughts and ideas, and it resonates to all who witness these things.  Here is her prompt (also taken from the reverb10 website, which unfortunately is no longer active).   

Beautifully Different.

Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful.

(Author: Karen Walrond)


To describe all of the things that make me different feels like a daunting task.  Even as a small child, I've always felt I am cut from a different cloth.  There are several things that make me different, but the one that stands out is my mind.  Or more accurately, it's the way I think.  I've always been able to analyze things from all sides.  Even when I have a particular point of view or opinion on a subject, I often find myself examining it from the opposite angle, if only to gain some perspective.  I think this trait has serve as both a benefit and a hindrance.  It is wonderful to be open-minded, but such deep analysis often leads to stagnancy or procrastination.  


Yet my mind remains my greatest asset and also the one thing that sets me apart from others.  There are other writers in the world, other fathers, other thinkers, but none of them think like me.  Thoughts lead to actions, which eventually determine who we are and how we are remembered.  I'd certainly love to be remembered for this complex, beautiful mind of mine.


It has led to all of the words and insights I've shared with others.  Hopefully these things light people up and leave them smiling, pondering, and formulating thoughts of their own.  If so, they served a purpose.


What makes you beautifully different?


Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet