bridge collapses into water in the night
the Key bridge collapses
I don’t like
heights
and this is not about me
a big ship struck the tall bridge
in the night
and the bridge fell into
deep and
dark water
the vehicles upon
the bridge
with
all the people inside
those on the ship as well
there is a “debris field”
that we can see
on the news
an iron wreck upon the water
stone pillars standing
monsters folded
cringing
on the water
and to either side
as if
wishing for the comfort
of the shore
and land
the rescuiers
look for vehicles
in water
and those we must call victims
inside cars
or trucks
underneath
it is a tall bridge
the Chesapeake’s involved
subservient
to ocean tides
that complicate
the work
collision
fire
rescues
officially from agencies
many groups
to save
or simply find
whose jobs are tested now
as if they faced
and go inside
the water as a maw
the bridge the broken teeth
inside the mouth
of Neptune
or of hell
the official word
stay out of Baltimore
today
bridge named
we know
for the writer of our freedom song
the one so difficult
to sing
at ball games
caught in the throat today
while half-
formed prayers try
to work their way
out into the darkness
‘til the sun start rising
over Baltimore
as is happening
outside my window
to the north
it’s important
like the Whitman
like
the Verrazzano
an artery not unlike
the Golden Gate
and we may suppose
precipitously
suppose
it shall be raised again
the Key
like the ensign of the nation
flew at sunrise
over the fort
in the first verse
but the wreck is hours’
old just now
and they are looking
and withdrawing from the water
who
and what might be found
by sonar and
all the limbs
so many arms and legs
reaching down
to grasp
flesh and metal
what is left of life
to retrieve
while the rest of us are learning
via screens
with views
of people ‘round a central
microphone
telling what they can tell
processing
feeling
there they deal with trauma
on the scene
over the widening scene
and radiating outward
over hours
over time as it works its way
in rings throughout the region
and the world
so fast things move
and we react
trauma works its way
requiring
dealing
everything we feel
and can’t let go of
and for now
we shouldn’t
we’ll bury
we’ll blame
we’ll fix
it will get better
while some things will always
remain broken
over water
underneath
inside the blood
so many hurt
from this
so many watching
hearing
and this is rough
learning
for it’s new
and awful
what has happened
and how it matters to us
with all the rest
that’s happening
it matters greatly
because something great
is lost for now
in tragedy
so many lives affected
wounds throughout mortality
in its time
the hope
to heal
c l couch
An image of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Taken in Fort Armistead Park.
Patorjk - own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41035194
clcouch123 
March 26, 2024 at 1:55 pm
🙏🙏🙏🙏
March 26, 2024 at 3:58 pm
Yes, thank you.
March 26, 2024 at 2:05 pm
I have to limit access to news. It used to be people had to emotionally process tragedies immediately around them and that was hard enough. Now we are bombarded daily with tragedies from every corner of the earth. People aren’t geared to handle that. SO the solution is probably to only watch news one or two days/week and try not to engage with it online. Perhaps limit it to email if you do that or perhaps not even that every day. You seem to take them all to heart even more than most and it’s not good for you. Perhaps just handling all the tragedies at once once/week would bring you some peace since for the most part we can’t fix any of this. And it’s hard to remember there ARE good things going on around us, too. I was doing this for a while and I’m going to return to it. As it is, out of the blue social security says they overpaid me $3500, not my fault and I have to pay them in weeks while they lower the money we’ve been living on $260/month. I don’t have it. And IRS has a mistake going on as well they’ve fixed twice but keep hounding us with the same mistake, goes on and on. Things like this are enough disaster for anyone in one day… (don’t worry about my disaster, either), Chris, turn off the news and look out your window. Try to live locally as much as you can. I am going to have to or I can’t handle the things around me and my community. That’s enough for any person on a daily basis.
March 26, 2024 at 3:57 pm
Lynn, it’s good to hear from you (always). And I appreciate your wisdom. This event is kind of local, since Baltimore is close to Harrisburg. And I’ve been down to Baltimore a lot. But still what you say makes sense. Actually, when I first heard of the collapse it was on the local news, and I was tired enough (early in the morning) not to consider how this would go national. Anyway, you’re right about not dwelling on the tragic. And I do try not to. You’re also right about living in the local, even in the neighborhood. In my case, even in my building since I haven’t known my neighbors who have been moving in. And now that is slowly changing, thank goodness, as it seems I’m running into everyone. Your situation with the IRS is simply awful. What happened to bank errors in one’s favor? If the institution doesn’t get it right, then you should not be penalized. I know it doesn’t work that way anymore, but still. I guess this happened to me as well, and for a while I had to pay hundreds a month to the IRS. But I was working full-time then, and I didn’t have an immediate family to take care of. So is it bad for me to say let’s each look for the good things, even while weathering the bad? I hope it works out that you can endure the mistakes by the IRS. Thanks again–and if you got this far then thanks for receiving my rambling response.
March 27, 2024 at 2:46 pm
Hi Chris, you are always great hoping and wishing well and sending out good vibes. But you seem to internalize these tragedies more than even me. Too many of them and it’s not good for any of us. And not really putting things in perspective, either. It changes our outlook and in turn affects others.
April 27, 2024 at 4:25 pm
Lynn, hi. I’ve been thinking a great deal about what you’ve had to say—thinking mostly because I believe you’re right. I do want people to have positive thoughts and feelings because it’s reasonable to have these. I also want us to know about what’s happening in the world, and I guess that means the bad stuff. Locally and globally. This the gist of being an occasional poet, and I want to be a spiritual one as well. But also not to be a spoilsport about everything and not encourage humor and grace. And as for my internalizing tragedies, yeah, I agree I do that. Though not to the extent you have noted, meaning I was unaware of how much. I appreciate your thought and also your thoughtfulness. I’ll have to pull back and at the same time practice the goodness that I see in things. Thanks so much. I hope you and your family are really well.—Christopher