“What the Bridges Hear” by W.S. Merwin

Even the right words if ever
we come to them tell of something
the words never knew
celestia for starlight
or starlight for starlight
so at this moment there may be words
somewhere among the nebulae
for the two bridges cross the wide
rock-strewn river
part way around the bend from each other
in the winter sunlight
late in the afternoon more than half
a century ago with the sound
of the water rushing under them
and passing between them unvarying
and inaudible it is still there
so is the late sunlight
of that winter afternoon
although the winter has vanished
and the bridges are still reaching across
the wide sound of being there