Bridges
Poem
Bridges
Dust collects on
A family portrait
Wrinkled white shirts
Standard issue
Litter the threadbare grey carpet
The bin overflows with
Tear-stained tissues.
An empty beer can,
Souvenir of a long sleepless night,
Lies abandoned in a corner.
Mould decorates
The rotting white ceiling
I sigh,
Open the window
To get rid of the
Cloying sense of despair
I throw the cigarettes into
The pile of rubbish,
Wipe the blood off the bathroom sink.
Today is my bridge to a better life.
If only I want to take it.
Amy MacMahon
Joint second prize in the junior section, ASIBA poetry competition 2016
Read by Olivier Holmey
Music
Fratres for violin, string orchestra and percussion, Arvö Part
Daniel Hope, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Simon Halsey
Image
Mountain Landscape with Bridge, Thomas Gainsborough
Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington