PROSE: The Bridge Story…

PROSE: The Bridge Story…

The bridge pose

We drove past a tree and unto a bridge. Yes… the first picture is the bridge pose or Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, and the second picture is the one-legged bridge pose. I know…it’s hard to picture a bridge with one leg without seeing it crumble like London Bridge. It’s funny that any time someone falls down or something falls and breaks, the situation is usually likened to London Bridge! Remember the nursery rhyme…London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady. Wood and clay, bricks and mortar, iron and steel, and even silver and gold could not build up the bridge to last! Sometimes I wondered if the real London Bridge would stand the test of time in spite of this nursery rhyme. Was it a jinx?…or just a song that informed us as primary school pupils that there is a bridge called ‘London Bridge’. As explained by Wikipedia, the rhyme was an attempt to portray the difficulties experienced in building the bridge. The current London Bridge was opened in 1973, and is located in Central London, spanning over the River Thames. It has passed through different centuries and has been built with wood, stone, and currently, concrete and steel. I think that London Bridge should also be likened to a person that has experienced a lot in life because the bridge itself has experienced a lot of changes in the past. Bridges are built to create passageways over physical obstacles like bodies of water, roads, and valleys. The first iron and steel bridge was built in 1779. Bridges differ based on structure, function, the terrain, and even the materials used for construction. They can be designed as monorails, water pipelines or aqueducts, and even the ‘fly-overs and foot bridges’ we know. We have all travelled over bridges to other states and even within the same state…like Choba Bridge in Rivers State, which leads to Emohua local government area, or the Onna Head Bridge that you must pass before entering Eket local government area in Akwa Ibom State, if you are coming from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. In fact, anything that connects any two points or two people is a bridge. Wikipaedia tells us that there are also three-way bridges called tridges. Apparently, tridges connect three points…or the people from these three points. It takes team work and great commitment of resources – tangible and intangible, to build a bridge between points or people. Without a strong foundation, the bridge or relationship will not stand the test of time. Bridges crumble and need repairs and so do human relationships. We need to cherish the bridges or relationships that serve us and make sure we serve them in return. However, we don’t need to burn the bridges that no longer serve us…we just need to stop being dependent on them and build better and stronger bridges elsewhere!

The importance of the word ‘bridge’ is portrayed in different sentences….Bridge the gap, Water under the bridge, and mmhmm…Burn the bridge. There are even movies called ‘Waterloo Bridge’, ‘Bridge of Spies’ ‘The Lovers on a Bridge’, ‘A Bridge Too Far’, ‘Bridge of Dragons’…and the list goes on! In the movie, ‘Bridge of Spies’, Tom Hanks plays a lawyer who negotiates a release and a prisoner exchange between a U. S. spy and a Russian spy…and guess where this exchange took place…on a bridge! Songs like ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ by Paul Simon, ‘Under the Bridge’ by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and of course…’London Bridge’ by Fergie, are just a few examples. Song lyrics are made up of verses, which include the chorus and of course…the bridge! However, the lyrics that sparked the inspiration for this piece is a song called ‘Lightning Tent’ by Wildlife…

The past is just a bridge we burned down behind us

When we left this town, When we left this town

Running from the blinding heat of our disaster

When we left this town, When we left this town

I agree with these lyrics because we live in a world of time and space. We are lifelong travellers on the bridge of life, constantly moving between three towns – Town Past, Town Present, and Town Future. Yes…the past is a bridge. It is the part of the bridge that ‘burns down’ or ‘disappears’ behind us as soon as we move to the next town – Town Present. But then, not all of us find it easy to let go of that part of the bridge. We keep looking back to make sure it is still intact! Why do we constantly crumble like London Bridge under the heavy weight of our past? It is human nature to remember the past because we were created with the capacity to store memories in our bodies. Yes…I said bodies, because every part of our body carries its own share of memories, while the brain is the bank that constantly lists out our past ‘transactions’…especially the losses! It is true that worrying about the losses of the past puts us in reverse gear on the bridge of life, and we find that we never really left Town Past in the first place! See…the illusion of the past can blind us! How can we settle down and enjoy the beautiful gifts of Town Present when we are still carrying the baggage from Town Past on our sagging shoulders? Yes…the past is heavy because no one helps you carry your baggage of memories! Everyone seems to be carrying a ‘cross’, and this can make the journey on the bridge of life, a tedious one. As we worry about what we saw in Town Past and what we are going to see in Town Future, we find that the actual bridge that connects these two towns, runs through Town Present, which means that our journey through this particular town is inevitable. Town Present is the only part of the bridge that we can clearly see, just before the scenery changes to Town Past. Town Future is barely visible until we get to it (this is where the scenery changes to Town Present). You must have noticed that when someone expresses worry over a situation, the assurance is that, ‘We will cross that bridge when we get to it’! This is because the situations that we tend to prioritize are the ones we are ‘presently’ facing. The situations from Town Past were ‘barely handled’, the ones from Town Present are ‘faced head-on’, and the ones coming at us from Town Future will be ‘handled with precaution’. Hmmm…God is our strength! The irony is that Town Future is not so far away…it is just a moment away or around the corner of the bridge. Let us travel towards it carrying no other baggage than hope, faith, peace, love, joy….these are not heavy loads because we carry them in our hearts, without feeling their weight on our shoulders. So…what part of the bridge of life are you on? Which Town are you living in right now? Don’t get me wrong, Town Past is usually a nice place to visit every now and then. The trick is to go there as a visitor, not a prospective resident. Don’t rent a house or buy any land there! Be mindful of the ‘gifts’ you accept and carry with you when you finally leave that town. Town Present is the best place to be because that is where all the action is! Town Future is a nice place to look forward to. It is like the Promised Land or the bright light in the horizon. Like Coolio once sang, ‘I’ll see you when you get there’!

By Inemesit Umofia, Ph.D

Dr. (Miss) Inemesit Umofia is a graduate of the Rivers State University and the University of Port Harcourt. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Adult and Community Education as well as a Master’s and Doctorate degree in Community Development. She is also a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Rivers State Chapter and holds a certificate in Creative Writing from the Elechi Amadi School of Creative Writing. She has also undertaken creative writing workshops facilitated by Sefi Atta and Eghosa Imasuen. She is a one of the authors of ‘The Beggar’s Story and Other Tales’, which is a collection of short stories edited and published by the late Captain Elechi Amadi. Her poem ‘Shed a Tear’ written as a tribute to the late Captain Elechi Amadi has been featured in RivAna Magazine and ‘In a Blaze of Glory: Creative Tributes to Elechi Amadi’, which was edited by Adiyi Martin T. Bestman and Priye E. Iyalla-Amadi. Dr. Inemesit Umofia has co-authored publications in academic journals and her prose articles are published in Supreme Magazine. Her thought-provoking prose articles are published under the section, ‘Food for Thought’ and borders on highlighting life lessons in an educative and entertaining manner. She also posts thought-provoking articles on her blog, ‘Life’s angles’. She is an ardent believer in continuous self-empowerment, life-long learning, and development. She hails from Akwa Ibom State, and lives in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

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