Old Bridge

(Found here)

Here is the bridge my childhood marked with fear.

I thought an ogre waited under it,

quick to devour if I should venture near.
I ran at sight of it; my sandals hit

the brown dust of the roadway going by.
Oh, it was like a day of lifted dread

when I grew bold enough to peer and pry,

seeking the monster, finding peace instead.

Fled is that childish fear; my thoughts are couched

in grown-up wisdom now, and yet I find

that worse than ogres are the dark shapes crouched

lurking beneath the bridges of my mind.

~Jessica Powers