POETRY FRIDAY

Today I said goodbye to one of the finest educators and one of the finest human beings I have ever known. Twila Norman was my boss when I first came to my district. At that time, she was the first female African American Assistant Superintendent in the District. She was a brilliant educator, someone who was always, always, always about what was best for teachers and kids. She was also a wise and classy lady with incredible people skills.  I learned so much in the five years I worked for her, and she also became a dear friend. About two weeks ago, she suffered a massive stroke and passed away. Her godson read this poem at her funeral today, and I was struck by how perfectly it captured her life's work. I'm posting this today in her honor.

After you read this, over to read some more great poetry at Random Noodling.

The Bridge Builder

Related Poem Content Details

BY WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE

An old man going a lone highway,

Came, at the evening cold and gray,

To a chasm vast and deep and wide.

Through which was flowing a sullen tide

The old man crossed in the twilight dim,

The sullen stream had no fear for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side

And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,

“You are wasting your strength with building here;

Your journey will end with the ending day,

You never again will pass this way;

You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,

Why build this bridge at evening tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head;

“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,

“There followed after me to-day

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been as naught to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”

Source: Father: An Anthology of Verse (EP Dutton & Company, 1931)