Saturday, February 6, 2010

The Bridge Builder

An old man going a lone highway,
Came in the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting strength with building here. 
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again will pass this way;
You've crossed the chasm deep and wide;
Why build you this bridge at evening tide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head,
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he siad,
"There followeth after me today,
A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm which has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth might a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."

-Will Allen Dromgoole

I love the reminder of our responsibilities that this poem provides.

Becky

1 comment:

  1. Goose bumps ♥ Yes a lovely reminder of the responsibilities of age, wisdom and parenting.

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