A Cold Bridge

Posted on November 6, 2019 by

41 Comments

On freezing nights when the river settles, the reflection of city lights is clearer than the real lights. She views this better on the bridge, her winter pilgrimage.

Colder than the air, she grips its handrail. Her hands pull away only at the moment she can’t feel them. It’s that pain she’s after, of her hands warming up after they’ve become numb, filled with little sparkles, needles, the slow throb back to movement.

But the lights found on the river’s surface hold a deeper meaning than pain for her.

She trusts the reflections more than real lights. They have a glimmer that’s missing from the real thing. She knows this not to be true. She knows the side of reflection is fiction, but, in a way, she believes that her wishing, a wishing so deep, so intense, begins to create an alternate reality.

She thinks… No. She knows there are millions of others just like her, wishing as she does. And with that power, alternative realities are coming into being, piece by piece, wish by wish.

Someday she’ll attempt to reach the reflections.

For now, she will settle for a hand on the railing, looking…looking…until she’s numb…again.

She’s on her tiptoes.

 

 

Category: PortraitsTags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

41 Comments on “A Cold Bridge”

  9. Pingback: A Cold Bridge — Elan Mudrow – Poetry is a Verb!

  21. I enjoyed this very much. I love brief snapshots of prose that leave you wanting for more, and feeling like you are there with the character, feeling all they are feeling, seeing what they are seeing.

    Liked by 2 people

  23. So powerful, beautiful, and sad. I felt for the woman as I read through to the end and when I read that last line… oh my heart. Great writing, Elan!

    Liked by 2 people

  25. So beautiful, Elan. I love the idea of willing something to life; that sort of a belief, that desperation, it’s something that truly resonated with me. I feel like there was an undertone to it that was so easy to miss. A sadness, perhaps, beneath the hope. This arcane melancholy that was overshadowed by the lights. Or maybe that was just me.

    Liked by 6 people

  26. This is so true. I’ve felt this way many times before. Very well written and I love how it taps into a human psyche that most of us can relate to. Well done! And thank you for getting me to feel and reflect today! ❤️❤️❤️🙏🏻

    Liked by 5 people

  29. This was short in length, but more powerful than any book I’ve ever read. This is fabulous! It is a piece of true art and is fun, and exciting to read!!! Yet it has a mysterious, yet ambiguous ambiance that makes it suscint and yet leaves the reader to ponder infinitely! The “perfect writer?” Lol, yup you’re as close to being the readers choice over all others!! At least you were to me, and I am a tough a$$ critic. You’re writing has talent, ambition, creativity, and is as close to perfection as any writer could only hope!!! Given perfect means that your writing is flawless, and that it is. Thank you for sharing your talent and creative mind out to paper, where all can benefit and grow. You insipired me!! Thank you again. You’re writing was an unexpected light in my dark day. Bravo 👏!!!

    Liked by 2 people

  31. “Wondering if this is all there is, suspecting there is something beyond this reality, reaching for it, leaning, leaning further, letting go, hoping you’ll grow your wings on the way down.” Yes, that’s the rub.

    Liked by 2 people

  33. You got me with this, Elan: “Someday she’ll attempt to reach the reflections. / For now, she will settle for a hand on the railing, looking…looking…until she’s numb…again. /
    She’s on her tiptoes.” Wondering if this is all there is, suspecting there is something beyond this reality, reaching for it, leaning, leaning further, letting go, hoping you’ll grow your wings on the way down. Wowser! The image of the bridge brought to mind kids curiously sticking their tongue on metal objects in winter. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  40. Exquisite, Elan. I love, “And with that power, alternative realities are coming into being, piece by piece, wish by wish.” 😊

    Liked by 3 people

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