by Rohan Buettel

Two Tibrogargans on opposite banks;
gorilla arms reach across, grasping
with a steel grip — a Bradfield Highway
anchored on the north cliff, a face of schist.
In the south, a second pier prevents a twist.
Observe the strength of girders, all those rivets;
the cantilevered pride of engineers;
a monument to a public servant.

Building works relieve a depression until
a war opening, three workers falling
to their deaths; decompression chambers
saving men from the bends — deep foundations;
mangrove roots revealed by each ebbing tide,
but from the deck you eye the city’s rise.