So-and-So Memorial Bridge

If I die,
Please don’t name a freeway interchange after me.
Or a faceless bridge that doesn’t seem like a bridge
(Unless you first see the sign: “So-and-so Memorial Bridge”).

I prefer
To not be recalled by commuters on their way
To jobs they don’t like, away from folks that they do
(Nor those who prefer their jobs to kin, they can forget me too).

If you must
Keep me as something that is me, but not quite me
I will take a quiet street, or a city green
(The sort of place that you would miss, not easily heard or seen).

And maybe,
If (I deserve it and) there are no parks or streets,
Look around for rivers of small and local fame
Then find a forgotten, rusting bridge and to it give my name.

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Little Manatee River, Harvey Henkelman