The Puente, a poem for created by James Rasmusson, and is somewhat similar to the Diamante. Like the Diamante, you start with one aspect of a topic or issue and then, line by line, work toward another aspect. In the center is a line that bridges the two aspects together.

The Puente is also tenuously similar to the Zeugma (affectionously called a Ziggy) which, on the Shadow Poetry web site is defined as: “A figure of speech in which a single word is used in the same grammatical and semantic relationship with two or more other words, usually a verb or adjective.”

I considered the name 'bridge', and then with help from my bilingual step-daughter Mira Conklin, decided to use the Spanish word for bridge which is “puente”. Introducing a poetic form that uses the Spanish word for 'bridge' is also timely since we're trying to come up with a 'bridge' to and from Mexico that is both compassionate and rational.

The idea of poetry as a bridge was also inspired by our dear friend Connie Marcum Wong who is putting together an anthology called “A Poetry Bridge to All Nations”.

The form has three stanzas with the first and third having an equal number of lines and the middle stanza having only one line which acts as a bridge (puente) between the first and third stanza. The first and third stanzas convey a related but different element or feeling, as though they were two adjacent territories. The number of lines in the first and third stanza is the writer’s choice as is the choice of whether to write it in free verse or rhyme.

The center line is delineated by a tilde (~) and has ‘double duty’. It functions as the ending for the last line of the first stanza AND as the beginning for the first line of the third stanza. It shares ownership with these two lines and consequently bridges the first and third stanzas.

In the puente you have overlapping couplets. I refer to these couplets as the processional couplet and the recessional couplet taken from the same words used in the wedding ceremony.

In the development of this poetic form, the 'cardinal' poem from which all the others came was inspired by Mira who walked the 'migrant trail' in Mexico as part of a group of twelve Americans who wanted ‘to explore the root causes of northward migration’. Mira’s trip is cogently presented in her blog ‘La Travesia de Mira’ from which I borrowed much to write "To find a Better Life".

Example #1:

To Find a Better Life

“I can’t read or write
but experience taught me
wrong from right”
were grandpa’s final words as Roberto
began his journey on the migrant trail

~to find a better life~

he’d suffer hunger, thirst
and blistered feet to
leave the Mixteca world
of the Zapotec to become
a stranger in a strange land.

Copyright © 2008 James Rasmusson

In this poem you can simultaneously relate to the bridging section as saying:
"..he began his journey on the migrant trail to find a better life.."
OR
"...to find a better life he’d suffer hunger, thirst and blistered feet…"

Another free verse example is “Summer Winds.”

Example #2:

Summer Winds

Monkeys in jungle treetops
one another clutching trembling
listening for leopards below
while wind rocks the treetops
and smells of primal life

~with the promise of relief~

we listened to the summer winds
to birds chirping and the rustling of prairie grass:
gripped by a crippling angst
yet still grateful
our ordeal had come and past.

Copyright © 2008 James Rasmusson

Again, you can simultaneously relate to the bridging section as saying:
"..and smells of primal life with the promise of relief.."
OR
"..with the promise of relief we listened to the summer winds.."

A free verse example that has a total of only seven lines is my poem “Equipoise”:

Example #3:

Equipoise

Let dejection be a sobering draught
to wash the tongue of thought
with nectar bittersweet

~of wishes lost and gained~

let contentment be a cozy coat
to shield you from the raging storm
of worldly wealth and power.

Copyright © 2008 James Rasmusson

You can simultaneously relate to the center section as saying
"..with nectar bittersweet of wishes lost and gained.."
OR
".. of wishes lost and gained let contentment be a cozy coat.."

Jan Turner has written an excellent example of the rhyming Puente with rhyme scheme
aabbcc d ddeeff.

Example #4:

Secrets in the Attic

The attic smelled of heat and stale perfume
as she ascended to the rustic room
that held old relics, chests and books from where
the centuries of dust collected there.
An antique desk was beckoning to her,
and in a hidden place where papers were

~she came upon a letter quite perchance~

and so began this eerie happenstance.
For what she read would put her in a trance
that kept her still for most the afternoon:
her great-great-grandfather in a platoon
of secret service had unmasked a coup
that only France could, through his team, undo.

Copyright © 2008 Jan Turner

Another variation could have been to rhyme the bridge with the last two lines of stanza 1, 
which would follow a rhyme scheme of aabbcc c d,d,e,e,f,f.

I found that in reading a Puente poem aloud it’s most effective if the reader puts in a slight 
pause after the last line of the first stanza but no pause in reading the recessional couplet. 
This helps the mind ‘feel’ the recessional couplet. My mind automatically hears the processional 
couplet with or without the pause.