My breath quickens and back stiffens
as I approach the almost
90-year-old trussed bridge.

I open electric windows
so if the 165-foot fall doesn’t kill,
the sinking car can be escaped.

It’s a tight turn onto one of
two 10-foot lanes, no shoulders.
Tires rumble on the steel grate deck.

Hands tighten on the steering wheel.
Eyes focus on staying centered on my side
as an approaching RV hugs the center line.

Ignore the rusty rails, flakey paint,
try not to think about the
safety rating fracture critical.

I bump over the arch’s peak
take a deep breath and
begin to glimpse relief.

This old span, smashed by ice dams,
damaged by numerous barge hits,
repaired multiple times,

the end must be near. At last,
my tires sing on smooth cement
and I sigh in concert.

 

Nancy Kay Peterson: Bellevue Literary Review, Bluebird Word, Dash Literary Journal, Earth’s Daughters, Naugatuck River Review, RavensPerch, Spank the Carp, Steam Ticket, and Tipton Poetry Journal. She co-published Main Channel Voices: A Dam Fine Literary Magazine (2004-2009). Her chapbooks are: Belated Remembrance (2010) and Selling the Family (2021). (www.nancykaypeterson.com)