The River And Bridge Poem by Vihanga Perera

-To Madeline, specifically -

On a night like this
I'm not surprised the least
That emotions clash; thoughts conflict.
Where the river we know flows silent, calm,
And I am on this side of that narrow bridge.

I walked home last night, this very
Bridge I passed under an unreal soft mist
And against the howl of night, amid the
Fleeting clouds, unassuming stars.
Home is where your heart is.

Yes - - there, in that, lies the clash, conflict:
There lies what ails me, absent of heart,
Who, in agony, anxiety, struts, groans and flits
By the river that, all gentle, casts the worlds apart,
Mocking me with a temper, bids me be calm.

O' we have forever forever, to whisper
Rhymes the wind won't know, paths to comb,
Moments hold, which hours and minutes in time forego.
So, flow on river, in moveless movement on,
In anticipation of what's Life, and peerless beauty born.