"The Limit of Suspension"

On three small scraps of paper
grandmother writes

     how the suspension bridge
     fell down

     how the cotton wool
                                    crash
     pulled her from
     starched sheets to the
     lung-stopping chill
     of the january night

     how her shoes squeaked
     in the snow

and looking at the
suspension bridge
                           lying
broken-backed against the ice
like an injured dragon

                                    grandmother
must have wondered at
each of her magic crossings

but writes here
                      only
the suspension bridge
                                      fell down
and it did make a noise

Jane Urquhart
False Shuffles, 1982.