Saying Goodbye
I don't do it well you see
Some people don't say it at all
see ya later substitutes for them
Hasta la vista, ciao,
flippantly said isn't the real deal
I'm talking about goodbye
I won't see you for a while
Goodbye can be forever or for a day
an hour or a year
several weeks or tomorrow
powerfully sad or buoyantly hopeful
Say your goodbyes someone says
as I fumble for the words
awkward and embarrassed
a tongue not usually tied is tight
Arrivaderci is a poetic sound
pompous unless you're in Italia
like farewell it is easy on the ear
even more so on the heart
Goodnight, adios amigo, au revoir
ways to substitute the final feeling
weaken the blow and soften
the fall of the day or a romance
I avoid it fear it strangle it
with my voice when pressed at that moment
to end the dinner, the date
or worse if there may never be another hello
I don't do it well you see
I am not alone I'm sure of this
so like others goodbye is something
I rarely do it at all
Published by Louisa Burgess
Life long NYer. Expressing myself through the written word has been my lifelong hobby and vocation. Somehow I managed to raise two sons and actually worked for a living! Recently moved to Texas!Louisa Burges... View profile
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16 Comments
Post a Commentthis is beautiful! too many times, we just assume we'll see someone again...
LOL@ PenPress' comment. Great 5 star piece here, Louisa!
Great! I am always telling my wife "I hate to see you go.....but I love to WATCH you leave!"..........then I miss her....
When I was younger and my grandmother was alive after telling us good-bye she never stayed at the screened-in door and watched us leave. She thought it was bad luck. Of course, I've somehow fallen into her footsteps!
Hate good-byes but love hellos, wonderful poem!!!!!!!!!!!!
and when ending a relationship, they are even harder because you know they are so final.
Good post! I don't like saying goodbye either.
I say hello, you say goodbye.
Love your poem. I hate goodbyes. After losing my mom at 14 I know I need to say them because I may not have another chance to do so and that makes it worse.
I don't like saying "good bye" either. I know how you feel. Good work here.