Autumn Bridge

This mornings wet weather continued through into the afternoon, the rain a symphonic rhythm a it hounded the windows, although strangely it was not too cold. I was drawn again to the river with the grey skies and dark water she looked ominous.

When I was reviewing the shots I looked at this one tonight and it made me shiver, I find any view of the bridge haunting now. About a year ago a a friend sadly took their life from the bridge, a troubled soul; it turned out there had been previous attempts when she had been stopped and taken off the bridge before she was able to get anywhere close to being able to jump. It is tragic for her family and friends that she has sadly never been found, the river it seems has cruelly taken her, another layer of heartbreak in this whole sorry affair. It is tragic too for her family that they cannot lay her to rest, tragic that they, in some cases, cling in some misguided hope that it may not have been her caught on the cameras as she scaled the barriers with a borrowed ladder.

Marillion recorded an album based on a true story of a girl found wandering on the Severn Bridge, although the story the band would subsequently weave around that particular event was totally fictitious. I have not been able to listen to its haunting melodies since but I have made up my mind to try as it was a beautiful suite of music. I read the lyrics that I struggled with this evening and it seemed a little fitting to use them in my journal as a reminder of the sinister relationship this bridge has with our river and how so many people have lost those they love from her deck.

Runaway girl
Too bad, too bad
Runaway girl
Too wild, too wild

Were they deaf to the prayer behind your lies
Maybe they didn't dare to ask you why
Was a runaway girl all they chose to see
All they were prepared to admit to

Runaway girl
Too bad, too bad
Runaway girl
A real wild child

So you cower in the towns forgotten places
And you make your bed with unfamiliar faces
And at last you've got your freedom but that's all you've got
You're tryin' to make your mind up if you're better off

You pretend to wait for washing in some laundromat
But you're damned if you'll give them the satisfaction of you going back
You'd freeze to death before you'd share a roof with them
And you'd starve before you'd let him get his hands on you again

Did you cry when they dragged you home
Did you cry when they dragged you home
Poor little runaway, poor little runaway

I hope this is not too much for the viewer this evening, I hope you can see past my relationship with the bridge and enjoy the shot such as it is and it is hauntingly beautiful in large.