Feb 3, 2011 Water Washes Cairo Bridge

Feb. 3: Waters Wash Cairo Bridge

Waves ebb and flow across the bridge this morning,
wash walkers,
irregularly patterning stop and go,
uncharacteristic of Cairo just last week,
whose waters kept their place below.

Water trucks spew streams, mist men (mostly) determined to pass,
persons kneel rug-less after bridge-washing
anointing,
nowhere softness for consciousness to rest, no gentleness
where frontal lobes, knocked down, tossed around,
might safely rest,
behind foreheads touching gritty ground,
brains busy sparking improvisations.

(c) 2011 Mary Loughran