The Senses of Progress by David Dephy

The Senses of Progress
by David Dephy

I am walking on the Brooklyn Bridge now.
I am listening to the trembling of the rivers.
They say: “Remember us, the circumstances
of the present and the past shape, the
possibilities of progress.”

I am walking on the Manhattan Bridge now.
I am listening to the rays around me. They say:
“See us, by your progress, you generate
a future that would not have happened had
you not interrupted the flow of happenings.”

I am walking on Williamsburg Bridge now.
I am listening to the dust of the trees. They say:
“Taste us, the progress is a reason of your
breathing and the possibility for moving
forward is shaped by the facts of reality.”

I am walking on the Queensboro Bridge now.
I am listening to the joy-voice winds around me.
They say: “Hear us, by progressing, you have
an effect on how the future unfolds rather than
drifting into the future that would inevitably
follow the uninterrupted past.”

I am walking on the Washington Bridge now.
I am listening to the echoes of the wishes. They say:
“Touch us, you can-not progress without
facing up to what’s happened in the past or is
happening in the present.”

I am walking on the Verrazano Bridge now.
I am listening to the premonition of the events.
They say: “Smell us, progress means participating
in the present, in light of what has happened in the
past, such that you generate and act on new
possibilities for the future.”

I am walking on my shadow on the street now.
The path is listening to my footsteps. I am speaking
with the path with all my breath full of silence.

November 21, 2018
New York

Previously published by Nixes Mate Review, January 7, 2019

PHOTO: Brooklyn Bridge with Manhattan Bridge in background. Photo by David Mark, used by permission.

NOTE: The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing across the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening, with a main span of 1,595.5 feet. It was designed by John A. Roebling.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David Dephy is a Georgian/American award-winning poet and novelist. Winner of the Spillwords Poetry Award and finalist of the Adelaide Literary Awards for the category of Best Poem, he was named as A Literature Luminary by Bowery Poetry andThe Incomparable Poet by Statorec. His work has been published and anthologized in the USA, UK, and all over the world by many literary magazines, journals, and publishing houses. He lives in New York.