Thu Anh Nguyen

Man on the Bridge

On my way home one night, by chance
I ran into this man as he was standing
Over the bridge looking down
At all the cars he would count
Just driving past, going fast
Down on the Queensway

It was
Kind of looking like he was contemplating life;
Wrong of me to assume, but I ended up being right
And so I discovered why after talking with him
Though it took a couple tries, he told it all while I was walking with him

I know it sounds a little crazy, but I can easily relate to
How easily it is to spill your secrets to a stranger
Just taking that risk, and letting in the danger,
Dividing all your thoughts and even the remainders
Hoping for the best of their judgement
When you reveal your pain and anger
And even if they leave because of that
Still the loss would be less painful

Though right then and there, I might’ve been all this guy had
And I wanted to know why he was laid on my path
Back in the day I would have been like “why ask?”
I used to be self-absorbed and for it, my bad

But it’s not an everyday thing, that I walk home at two in the morning,
Approaching some guy, hoping that I could make his sky less stormy
The point is,
I made him feel important
And took away some notion that his life was pointless

And yes,
I’m aware that there’s
A difference between saving somebody’s life
And just making it last longer
But it still would have been wrong to
Just keep walking past him without stopping and asking
Like I didn’t see a problem and didn’t know something was happening

And though I may not have saved his life
I sure hope I changed it, like
Another day and night
Gives him a chance to make things right

So this is a message to all of you:
Don’t ever underestimate your presence.
Because if it wasn’t for all of you,
I’d just be talking to these benches
And a bunch of empty chairs
Motionless objects, not even reacting with empty stares
A warmer setting couldn’t be met even by moving them all to the front
Because objects don’t object to me or try to convince me not to jump

Because I have once been there
So I know what it’s like, and how it’d be nice,
To feel like somebody cares
Anybody

So this is for those times when you feel like you’d never be fine
This is for all those times when you feel like you weren’t meant to get by
This is for all those times when all I needed was a hug
But most of the world was asleep, and I didn’t feel worth waking them up

But now I have come to realize that I am well worth it
And anyone with a doubt or a thought otherwise can let hell burn it
Some things just aren’t what they seem, so just because for you things feel perfect
Doesn’t mean that victims of first world problems aren’t still hurting

Did you know that all it takes is a smile
To make somebody realize they’d rather stay a while?
But then again, it also works in the reverse,
All it takes is words to hit somebody where it hurts

Your actions affect others. Everything you do has an impact on someone
And does it really matter who?
Because on the whole, you are them, and similarly, they are you

And I can relate to Pac’s lines
“I once contemplated suicide and would have tried,
But when I held that nine, all I could see was my mama’s eyes”
And that vision for me has now expanded;
Instead of just seeing her eyes, I envision the planet;
Now I have bigger reasons why
I struggle to keep alive:
For the people potentially listening, who would be touched by my poetry
And for the friends who I’ll affect, simply just by them knowing me
So if I stay and grow to be whatever I’m supposed to be,
Instead of running hopelessly trying to chase my broken dreams,
Then I can freely, openly, reach out to those who don’t believe
And plant in them, hope, as seeds and watch the world just grow with me