The Bridge

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Title:     The Bridge
Author: Eunice Tietjens [More Titles by Tietjens]

The Bridge of the Eight Scholars spans the canal narrowly.
On the gray stone of its arch are carvings in low relief,
    and the curve of its span is pleasing to the eye.
No one knows how old is the Bridge of the Eight
    Scholars.
In our house-boat we pass under it. The boatman
    with the rat-like face twists the long broken-backed
    oar, churning the yellow water, and we creep forward
    steadily.
On the bridge the village is assembled. Foreign devils
    are a rarity.
The gold-brown faces are not unfriendly, merely curious.
    They peer in rows over the rail with grunts
    of nasal interest.
Tentatively, experimentally, as we pass they spit down
    upon us. Not that they wish us ill, but it can be
    done, and the temptation is too great.
We retire into the house-boat.
The roof scrapes as we pass under the span of the
    Bridge of the Eight Scholars.
  Pa-tze-kiao

[The end]
Eunice Tietjens's poem: Bridge

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