eulogy for a covered bridge
This past week, New Brunswick lost another covered bridge: the William Mitton Covered Bridge in Riverview. Ray Boucher, Chairman of the Covered Bridges Conservation Association of New Brunswick, suggested I write a poem. Of the 340 covered bridges in the province in the 1950s, only 58 remain.
~
sorrow
William Mitton Bridge
1942 – 2025
“…because I’ve seen it die.”
- Ray Boucher
advocate for covered bridges
in New Brunswick
~
crosses the river
for the last time
its reflection brief
in the brown stream
tributary of Turtle Creek
~
mud banks carved and sculpted
a waterbird, neck broken, a mangle
rubble of broken beams and boards
weakened burr trusses, punky beams
broken boards, holes for sunlight
to drill through
~
initials scratched and scrawled
on greying surfaces, overcome
with lichen, moss and mildew
inscriptions at weddings
graduations, tourists
school photos
~
its twenty-three metres
or more, once crossed
an Acadian river
Sainte-Marie-de-Kent
~
in myth, the ‘travelling bridge’
floated down the river
~
in fact, removed, by a resourceful
farmer, William Mitton
~
purchased the bridge
took it down, plank by plank
moved, rebuilt in 1942, to connect
his farm to Coverdale Road, his name
became the name of the bridge
~
a place to play
between rafters
thump and climb
chase echoes
a place to relax
watch the river
between gaps
in wall boards
~
spring floods
and abutments reel
snow loads break its back
echoes fail beneath snap
and sag of weakened boards
~
an excavator, a high hoe
a crane, lifts its rigid neck
takes the Mitton Covered Bridge
apart, one wood fibre
at a time
~
All my best
Jane Tims
nichepoetryandprose 
Ah, too bad. I hope it was at least well documented photographically before being torn down.
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Steve Schwartzman
March 14, 2025 at 9:32 pm
Many people take photos of our covered bridges, of course, but I doubt an archival effort to document was done. A very good idea and one I will suggest to our Heritage Branch.
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jane tims
March 15, 2025 at 10:15 am
Your bittersweet words mark the sad passing of a place once so full of life, a beautiful poem, Jane.
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Barbara Rodgers
March 14, 2025 at 9:20 am
Thank you Barbara. Covered Bridges are so important to me. We live in a community with its own covered bridge and I travel through it almost every day. It went through a major maintenance and repair a couple of years ago and we have hopes it will be part of our community for many years.
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jane tims
March 14, 2025 at 7:04 pm
To cross a covered bridge almost every day sounds like part of a wonderful life-style. I hope you and future generations will be able to keep this treasure.
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Barbara Rodgers
March 16, 2025 at 1:20 pm
Jane, what a fitting tribute to another of our covered bridges gone but never forgotten. Thank you friend. This is truly beautiful.
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Sandra Waite
March 3, 2025 at 9:53 pm
Thanks Sandy. I am glad you like it. We are so lucky here, in the Oromocto area to still have covered bridges. Remember when we used to drive together and crossed the Patrick Owens every day!
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jane tims
March 4, 2025 at 9:40 am
Beautiful tribute, Jane. I love the imagery of your words, especially this:
“a waterbird, neck broken, a mangle
rubble of broken beams and boards”
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Robin
March 2, 2025 at 4:25 pm
Thanks Robin. Lots of images, some sad, fit the covered bridge.
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jane tims
March 4, 2025 at 9:43 am
Very, very nice.
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Jane Fritz
March 1, 2025 at 3:17 pm
Thanks Jane
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jane tims
March 1, 2025 at 7:10 pm