Bridge: Hampton Court
Title: The Birds of Hampton Court Bridge
Writer: Joan Lennon
Artist: Thomas Heitler
The work: Foamex 293mm by 340mm
Description: Hampton Court Bridge saves its beauty for the side view – arches like the curve of a swan’s wing were where the poem and image began.
THE BIRDS OF HAMPTON COURT BRIDGE
Joan Lennon
First there was a ferry, followed by three fancy bridges, none of which lasted. Then, in 1933, the modern Hampton Court Bridge was opened. Made of reinforced concrete, it was a workhorse of a bridge, perhaps even an ugly duckling, but an ugly duckling with a difference…
A bridge that’s
concrete-backed for bearing
everyday
traffic
every day:
tyre and trudge –
sturdy
solid
stolid
straight
But see it from the river –
three leaps crossing,
each arch
a royal curve
like the wing
of a swan
cladding of Wren-red bricks
fit for his palace
trimmed
with white Portland stone
(laid down
when birds
were dinosaurs)
while the water threads
through
to the city
city
city
sea