Headline Poem 1/13/14 -- Bridge Days

(Photo credit USA Today)

I really didn't want to write about the headline(s) focused on the George Washington Bridge that connects New York to New Jersey.  But, it has become inevitable, and the scandal is demanding a headline poem of its own. Do I care about the details surrounding the cones-up "controversy?" No, not really. I care that people were inconvenienced for what might be a childish game of payback. I care that one man was late to his first day on at a new job after being unemployed for an entire year. I care that emergency personnel could not get to the scene of a crash as quickly as they should have been able to. I care that people's blood pressure rose unnecessarily. I care that this closure nonsense happened two days before the anniversary of September 11th. BUT, I'm not staying up at night worrying about who instigated the closure, who has been fired since, and how this will impact Christie's political career.

So, that leads me here to this page for my daily dose of poetic justice. What about this bridge trouble on the G-Dubya is worthy of a poem? How about a bit of history about the bridge? Or about the strong metaphoric value of bridges overall? I'm racking my brain here trying to think of something. And then... it comes to me -- a make believe character waiting to get to work. Enjoy!

Bridge Days

Coffee goes from hot to warm to cold
I always order two, black with two sugars, no cream

Today, one will do

Sitting on the bridge with my music
there is usually traffic
but this is ridiculous

This is my drive three days a week

New Jersey to New York and then back

These are my Bridge Days

Where I sit and wait, stop and go

My donuts are gone, 

I always get three 

Glazed

No sprinkles or filling inside, just three glazed

Sometimes I finish them all by the time I reach the other side, sometimes one or two

Today, they're gone and then some

I fear I'll be sitting here for lunch

Trapped, I start to sing some Metallica, hoping it doesn't soon become Johnny Cash

Banging on my steering wheel

All slicked from the Armor All

recently applied

I pick at my scab, gross I know, but I am stuck here with no band-aid

And nothing else to do
I try to stop the blood with my Dunkin' Donuts napkin
now spotted like a poisonious frog,
Dried ones brown, fresh ones red

I notice the crack on my windshield

I've been meaning to get that fixed

Damn truck kicked up a rock

And one got stuck, boom right there in the center, it's starting to stretch out pretty bad

My car's just been washed and fueled up, shouldn't have chosen the piña colada flavor savor from the lobby, damn thing's giving me a headache

I'm not one of those internet folks I see while looking around, staring at their screens while stopped

Liking, tagging, following, sharing, complaining, and tweeting out crap

Tweets are for birds if you ask me

I've still got a flip phone

No point calling my wife, she'll see it on the news 

I just gotta get to the other side 

Before I start singing the blues

Like a bridge over troubled waters, 

here it comes... 

Move those freaking cones!