Laurie Klein Reads Moon Crossing Bridge

Editor’s Note: “Poems to Listen By” is an audio series where over time we will explore some of the themes in the Poet Laura checklist, as well as Tweetspeak’s “Perspective” theme throughout 2022.

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Poems to Listen By: Moonstruck 07—Moon Crossing Bridge

Presented by Laurie Klein

Welcome! This is “Poems to Listen By.” I’m Laurie Klein, here with our new series: Moonstruck.

Let’s begin today with an untitled haiku, by poet Steven Chernick.

The gravity
between the grains,
moonlit sand.

Those almost-tactile lines remind me of a poem by Tess Gallagher. Mourning the death of her husband, writer Raymond Carver, Gallagher compares the anguish of separation to the elusive, flat cone of sand in Kyoto’s Silver Pavilion garden—a mercurial shape, which only appears in moonlight.

In a note to the reader, Gallagher explains that, in Kyoto, the Chinese characters for the famous Togetsu Bridge are said to be an allusion to the moon crossing the night sky.

Moon Crossing Bridge

If I stand a long time by the river
when the moon is high
don’t mistake my attention
for the merely aesthetic, though
that saves in daylight.
Only what we once called worship
has feet light enough to carry
the living on that span of brightness.
And who’s to say I didn’t cross
just because I used the bridge in its witnessing,
to let the water stay the water
and the incongruities of the moon to chart
that joining I was certain of.

—Tess Gallagher

Gallagher’s small poem is so wondrously layered, I’d like to read it for you a second time.

I’d like to propose a toast, to what holds true amid uncertainties, in the irrepressible spirit of the Irish:

A moonlight toast to your coffin:
May it be made of 100-year old oak,
and may we plant the tree together,
tomorrow.

You’ve just heard an untitled haiku by Steven Chernick, and “Moon Crossing Bridge,” from the collection by the same name, by Tess Gallagher.

I’m Laurie Klein. Thank you for listening.

Photo by Wendelin Jacober, Creative Commons license via Flickr. “Moon Crossing Bridge,” by Tess Gallagher, from Moon Crossing Bridge, Graywolf Press; 1st edition (February 1, 1992). Used by permission. Haiku: Steven Chernick, Used by permission, Every Day Poems. Audio and script by Laurie Klein with thanks to Pat Stien for direction. “Simple Gifts” (public domain). Musical performance, recording, and mastering, by Bill Klein.

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Laurie Klein

Laurie Klein inherited her mother's passion for reading aloud. Despite mispronouncing "manure" in Mrs. Englebert's 4th grade class—to hooting derision from classmates as she read Charlotte's Web—she later pursued Theatre Arts at Whitworth University, in Spokane, Washington. "Can you teach me to play 100 characters?" she asked. They did. To this day, Professor Emeritus Pat Stien (now 93), continues to mentor Laurie (soon-to-be 69). As with writing, one never masters the art. Laurie's performance credits stateside and abroad include plays, one-woman shows, storytelling events, poetry readings, audiobooks, videos, and spoken word recordings for albums and public radio.

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