Ode To Bennett's Mill Bridge

Ode To Bennett's Mill Bridge. . It's more than just a monument to generations gone; It is an inspiration and a gift they passed along. It's beauty is unquestioned by any standard law. Planned by inspired builders and built without a flaw. The iron bolts were wrought by hand, the timbers roughly cut; the stone foundations carefully placed as was each nail and nut., A lesson in magnificence and there for all to see, it rivals much of nature's best and humbles those like me. The single span so neatly trussed, and near two-hundred feet, has known the load of heavy wheels as well as rhythmed hoof-beat., As Civil war was heating up and trains were spewing steam, a crew of men toiled slowly on to weave another's dream. Before the days of Roebling and his twisted cable wire, before there ever was a truck or air inflated tire. Still it stands as it was placed, to wear a tiring task, Defiant, independent, to both man and nature's blast., If wooden beams could hear or speak, oh, what a tale they'd tell of several generations, how they rose and how they fell, Of how the barefoot fugitives whiled hours fishing worms and how the weary travelers took refuge from the storms. I'm glad it's not a living thing, and here's the reason why. If it were to be alive, Someday it would have to die., Written By: Charles Whitt , Wood donated by: Graf Bro Lumber , 1984