ABANDONED ROAD BRIDGE OVER BET BET CREEK

What colonial engineer
Drew up plans to build you here?
A bridge not worried by flooding rains,
He calculated your stresses and strains.

Your deck on lattice trusses sat
The wrought-iron made in Ballarat;
From bluestone, masons crafted piers
And abutments so you'd last for years.

And that you did, one can't deny
Until a new bridge passed you by.
So now you sit and silently wait
While Nature slowly seals your fate.

And though they still make claims for you
With words like historic and technical, too
Your significance appears to be slipping away
Another victim of progress, they say.

© Jim Low