The Bridge Grating by Rebecca Lange

I think about the holes in the bridge grating ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Every time I walk over it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not always the same thoughts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sometimes I wonder ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If little shoes would stick through if a kid walked over it ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And whether they thought of that when they made it ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whether anybody thinks of these things for safety’s sake ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think how dreadful and yet ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How funny it would be if I dropped something important ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My phone down through the rusty grating ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Into the green spongy stuff that lies on top of the smelly water ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I always have to decide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whether I’ll walk on the bar-shaped strips of concrete ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That I assume were placed there for the benefit of car tires, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So they don’t have to go over the grating. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Or whether I’ll walk carefully over the grating. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I know I won’t fall through, but there’s the thought ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What if I catch my shoe somewhere, trip, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And throw my keys into the lake.