Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn and Manhattan, New York
Photo by L.W.
I love learning and wanted the fun of creating a web site. My goal is not for my web site to be either slick or perfect. It is experimental and I want it to be expresive and flowing. I am currently enthralled with using a rainbow of colors, animated images, as well as my own photographic works. Creating is a way of living for me. I am loving the process and having fun flowing with this activity, although it has been frustrating at times to figure out the specific rules to accomplish the look I want. I have learned by doing and referring to texts, with a few lessons from experienced webmasters.
The metaphor of a bridge is one that has been important to me for many years. How do we manage to deal with all the changes and the necessary losses? How do we build a bridge? How do we find the energy, ingenuity, wisdom to keep building bridges? To do so is to survive -- and there are words that help us to heal. We develop scars and we heal. In poetry I find expression of ones struggle to deal with wrenching changes, and life stages. It is said that in every life there are ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows. We begin to understand how to grow and survive by building bridges and making the crossing. There are hard choices to be made as we travel.
The Swinging Bridge is approximately 300 feet long and seven feet wide. It is 100 feet above the Yangzi River. It was built 1200 years ago. The Yangzi River is part of a huge irrigation system that was developed to both harness the river and to fertilize some 600 acres. The Swinging Bridge was originally all wood, but now it has been reconstructed using some metal.
POETRY IN LIFE
I walked across the Swinging Bridge in 1994. It felt as though I were part of a poem or simply put, living my life like a poem. It was like trying to walk on a crowded trampoline. I had my own rhythm and a feeling of comfort and safety and then was effected by people who were also walking in their own special way . Some people were jumping, others marching, others stepping so tentatively, others holding on to someone else for support. The entire span was reverberating and shaking from so many different strides and from people making their own crossing.
I did not feel safe. We were not on solid ground and we were not in control of our immediate environment. I grabbed for the railing, reaching for support. The railing was greasy and black gook covered my hand. Still I held on -- even to a slippery support. My goal was to remain upright and be able to move.
I call my poetry center bridgeXngs because of mans' struggle to accept the changes and the losses. My answer for myself is "I have to build me a bridge, and I will cross it even if it is swinging!"
bridgeXngs Poetry Center utilizes the reading and writing of poetry and literature. Specific lines in a particular poem can help one witness and understand ones inner state and help define conflict, pain, and love. This helps one to understand and to feel understood and less alone, and to move on to steadier ground.
For information on various training opportunities with Lila, contact bridgeXngs@aol.com.