The Bridge Builder

The Bridge Builder. . On February 19, 1946, the Tulsa World published a picture of Cyrus Avery holding a plaque on which the following poem was inscribed. The original plaque was mounted on the upstream rail of the bridge but is rumored to have been removed during World War II to prevent its disappearance and conversion to scrap. The whereabouts of the original plaque are unknown today; however, the original bolt locations can still be seen on the bridge railing., The Bridge Builder, An old man going a lone highway , Come at the evening cold and gray , To a chasm vast and deep and wide, , 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 eventide?" , The Builder lifted his old gray head, , "Good friend, in the path I have come," he said. , "There followeth after me today , 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,", -Anonymous