The Arched Bridge

Prelude...

I saw this picture yesterday...

And for some reason...  Couldn't stop looking at it... or think about it since...

As I looked at this picture....

Another image came to me...

Here is what I saw:

It is 1:30 am….

He has been walking aimlessly all night….

He is still walking….

The busy streets….

Packed with people….

Still…

On this Saturday night (or more accurately Sunday morning)…

Young and old….

Of all shapes..

And of all colors….

Talking…

Laughing….

Dancing….

The lights….

Are all nothing but a blur….

The sounds….

Are a collective…

Almost a muted hum….

What he sees…..

Are still images and figures….

As though…

He has been transported into a painting…..

And….

He is the only thing….

And the only one…

Who is real in this colorful landscape…..

What he hears….

Is the sound of his own breathing….

The beating of his own heart…..

And the rhythm of his steps….

On the crowded sidewalk…..

He is not intoxicated….

Or inebriated….

He is not lost….

Rather…

He is searching….

Inward….

And outward….

He searches the past….

And…

He searches the present….

For he knows….

That what he finds…

Will shape the future….

Images….

Rush passed his mind’s eye….

Images that don’t belong to his present surroundings….

Or if they do….

They are super-imposed….

And intermingled….

With images of what has already transpired….

And have been forever engrained….

Etched…

In the deepest parts of his soul….

These images…

Vivid…

Bright…

Real…

Make up his world now!…

These images…

As persistent…

And as continuous…

As the sound of his steps…

On the cobblestoned pavement beneath his feet…

Are his realm…

Where he needs to be…

Where he HAS to be…

As he turns the corner…

The blurred hum vanishes…

Almost instantly…

He knows that he has left the crowded neighborhood…

He walks…

As he has been for hours now…

Hoping that the night…

Will lead him to his destination…

Wherever…

Or whatever…

That may be…

He walks…

He walks through the streets…

The occasional reflection of a faint street light…

The darkened and the cold buildings…

Walls…

Doorways…

Toppled garbage bins…

Empty boxes…

Left out by store proprietors…

Who closed for the day hours ago…

Remind him…

Of the parts of his past…

That have been left abandoned…

And condemned…

For years now!…

He walks…

As he has been for hours now…

He walks…

Through the alleys of his own soul…

The salty air…

Tingles his nostrils…

He knows…

That he is nearing the waterfront…

A dense fog…

Blows through the street…

And thickens quickly…

With every steps that he takes…

Like a warm blanket…

Covering the landscape…

As mother nature…

Tucks her children in for the night…

In a distant…

Not so far from him…

The ocean…

Gently brushes the shore…

And he can hear the faint sound of the gentle waves…

He crosses the fog covered street…

Only able to see a few steps ahead…

Walks down the stairs…

That connect the street to the walkway below…

And lead the way to the waterfront…

He holds on to the railing…

And feels the cold, damp metal railing…

Almost stinging his skin…

Wipes the droplets of water which are now collected on his fingertips on his jeans…

As he steps down the last step….

He hears the waves clearly now…

Gentle…

Calming…

And yet…

Testaments to the awesome power of the dark ocean…

A sleeping giant…

That can devour everything in site…

Instantly…

If awaken from its solemn slumber…

He walks…

As he has been for hours…

The half-moon’s reflection on the wavy water…

Guiding his path…

He feels the gentle breeze…

Guiding and propelling the dense fog…

Against the side of his face…

And…

He is reminded…

Reminded of HER…

Her image…

As gentle and kind…

As loving and breathtaking…

As always…

Looking at him…

Lovingly…

Her eyes sparkling…

With the love, passion and devotion…

That drove them together…

And bonded them forever...

 …

He walks…

As he has been for hours now…

His mind racing…

His senses heightened…

He brings her image to life…

And as he reaches out to hold her hand in his…

He is reminded of the first time they held hands…

He…

With all of his senses…

Recalls how it felt when his fingertips first touched her hand…

Her softness…

Her texture…

How he felt her life force rush into his veins as their hands held each other for the first time…

Like a strong, warm, and an instantly intoxicating ale…

…

How this simple touch…

Thought him more about her than any conversation they ever had!…

He walks…

As he has been for hours…

And for a short while…

She walks by his side…

Hand in hand…

Silent…

Yet speaking volumes…

He feels calm…

And at piece...

With himself…

And the world around him…

He feels complete….!!!!

He follows the pathway towards a canal…

Sound of few drunken adolescent males walking in a group…

Exhausting the last remnants of their testosterone/alcohol fuel for the night…

Distract him for a moment…

An incredible anger rages within him…

How dare they disturb his walk with his beloved?...

Blood rushes through his veins…

His heart begins to pound…

Feeling as though it would burst through his chest at any moment…

He hears her whispering his name…

Redirecting his attention affectionately…

And he sees her image again…

He is reminded of how much he had longed to see this look…

Half angelic…

Half filled with childlike mischief…

…

He walks…

As he has been for hours…

In a state beyond the natural realm…

And somewhere between…

What is…

and…

What once was…

With her by his side…

They walk together…

Side by side…

As they were meant to be….

…

The fog is now almost gone…

They reach the arched stone bridge…

One of their favorite spots…

He looks on…

The arched bridge…

And its reflection under the moonlit sky…

Forming a perfect circle…

An illusion…

Not unlike…

What he was experiencing now!…

The illusive image…

This “half-real half-illusion circle…

Looked like a magical gateway…

Leading to a world…

A world that was theirs and theirs alone…

A gateway…

To the world of “what could be”…

A world that they could build together…

…

He stood there…

Motionless…

With her by his side…

For what seemed to only last a short while…

Where in fact…

Hours had now passed…

The sun…

Had begun to rise gently…

He turned his gaze away from the gateway…

Looking for her…

Looking for his beloved…

But…

She was gone…

The sorrow that he felt…

And the emptiness that came over him…

Is more than any man can bear…

Silently…

He screamed…

As a single tear…

Glistened the side of his face…

...

He walks….

As he has been for hours…

Searching…

For his beloved!!!