It could be argued that there is
no good way to say goodbye,
which is why some people
choose to never say goodbye -
but goodbyes are a natural aspect of life,
because everything one day comes to an end…
sometimes when you think you have said
your last goodbye to someone or to something,
because you think you will never see them again,
you ultimately find yourself somewhere
that you unexpectedly cross paths with
a person or a thing that you had
lost contact with a long time ago -
but, most of the time, moments
of reunion are brief and temporary for a reason…
the passage of time changes how people see one another,
and over time some people grow farther and father apart -
until, one day, two people who used to be
as close as could be turn into
becoming strangers to each other,
and the cracks that divide them deepen…
it can be something as big
and as hurtful as an affair,
or as small, but just as impactful,
as a look in someone’s eye,
or the fact that two people
can no longer communicate with one another,
that can bring a relationship to a point
when enough is enough
and both parties agree that
what they once had is over -
and perhaps had been for some time…
there are many things that can
put a strain on any relationship -
finances, security, or something else
that can be harder to define;
however, when trust has been lost by two people
there is no going back
and there is no hope of finding a solution
for the problem that has been found
which has slowly led to things becoming worse
and irreversible for many reasons…
knowing when to say goodbye is not easy,
nor can you ever predict when it will be necessary
for you to try leave someone behind;
but there does come a time
when the best time to do what must be done
is somewhat decided for you
and waiting for you to embrace it
and do with it what you will without any fuss…
I have never liked saying goodbye,
but the older I get the more I feel
that some people take other people
more and more for granted
and so naturally that the phrase “I’m sorry”
is no longer a part of their vocabulary -
so, when that happens, my advice is
not to fight the inevitable,
and politely say “thank you for your time”
before saying a silent “adios”.
goodbye
‘The Wolf In Us’ by Mark Hastings – Epilogue: “Goodbye, Olivia”
A Poem A Day #505: The Goodbye Song
A Poem A Day #427: Hello/Goodbye
My Poem “Parting Ways”
It can be easy, if can be hard... you can feel free, you can feel lost - but there comes a time when one must become two again, because that is the way things are meant to be... things, people, can start out and seem disperate and different from one another - but over time, when multiple elements are mixed together, a new state of equanimity can be created and there is perfect harmony, maybe even love; however, most things are not meant to last forever - even though you may desperately want them to - and gradually tensions and tears start appearing it what was once a seemingly perfect relationship, and then things can get too bad and they become too far gone to fix and what follows is the eventual end of things... no one ever wants to envision the last time they do something... no one ever wants to consider what might happen when something stops... "goodbye" is a word no one wants to say - but things happen, things change, people change, people grow apart, and sometimes you have to do something as devastating and heartbreaking as walking away and partings ways.
A Poem A Day #252: The Goodbye Cycle
A Poem A Day #189: Goodbye, my friend
My Poem “Hello/Goodbye”
During the chapters of our life we encounter unforgettable characters who influence us in many different ways - and, just as in a book, some chapters, some encounters, and some experiences may be brief; however, sometimes, some indellible impressions never end and never stop being like a breath of fresh air through the sometimes cluttered interior of our brain. "I'll see you again", "I'll see you on the other side", "I'll see you before you see me" - life does not always conform to how we might want it to play out: sometimes people move on, sometimes people lose touch, sometimes two becomes one, sometimes you can have too much and sometimes you cannot have enough; however, no matter the struggle, no matter the pain, no matter the scars that people sometimes have to sustain, if you are lucky, one day, a reason for what you went through will reveal itself and give you an answer that may reveal something about yourself that will be just as revelatory as the truth that all life is a cycle and everything on Earth has a connection to everything within the blue or the black sky that we sometimes see above. You never know what you are going to do, you never know who you are going to meet, you never know what or who will become important to you - because no one can ever know the outcome of anything until they choose to try... you never know if you will ever do something again, you never know if you will ever see someone again - but sometimes something can last a long time, perhaps a lifetime, before the curtains are drawn, before we reach for our jacket, before we walk through a door to the world beyond our periphery where and when we will say a simultaneous hello and goodbye.
My Poem “The Goodbye Song”
There was once a minstrel,
who walked from place to place,
who was known for being extremely lyrical,
who always had a smile on his face.
The minstrel was always outwardly hopeful,
the minstrel was always a beacon of optimism;
however, the minstrel was not invulnerable
and occasionally he felt like he was living
in some kind of psychological prison.
The minstrel loved to walk,
the minstrel loved the open road
that to him had always seemed unending;
however, one day the minstrel
found himself unable to sing,
unable to smile, unable to talk –
as if he had been struck
by a lightning bolt
that shook him to his core.
The minstrel found himself
somewhere he had never imagined existed:
the minstrel had arrived within a place
without light which he could not exit.
The minstrel did not know where he now was –
but, for the first time in his life,
having previously always known
where to go and what to say,
all that the minstrel felt
at this moment was lost.
The minstrel finally decided to take
his lute in his hands and give
the strings that he knew so well
one final strum –
and then, as he continued to walk
further into the darkness of the unknown,
the minstrel started to play,
to nobody but himself and the void,
what he called his “Goodbye Song”.
My Poem “Our heroes are leaving us”
Slowly but surely
our heroes are leaving us…
sadly and silently
we have to watch those who we have grown up with
pass over the threshold between life and death,
as they begin a new journey far away from us…
every day we all hear that another person
who meant something to us at some point in our life
has broken free of the shell of their life and their body…
every day we have to say goodbye in our own way
to someone who we thought of as a friend
who touched and changed our life in some way…
it’s always sad… it’s always unbelievable…
it’s always shocking… it’s always strange
when we see again the face of someone who has died
but who still continues to live on in memories,
in photographs, on a screen, or through their voice
which we can still hear in a myriad of ways…
when we lose someone we have known all our lives
it is like watching the stars above slowly disappear
one by one before our eyes –
and though over time the space where bright stars
once burned from a distance will be filled with new stars,
nothing and no one could ever replace the light of something
or someone who used to be our guiding star…
the universe is constantly changing…
sunrises and sunsets are a way of life
for every planet in the cosmos…
no matter how hard anybody tries
there will never be enough words in any language
capable of explaining the meaning of life
and where we go to after we die –
but some questions can only be answered
after we have had life-changing experiences
and after we have witnessed the heroes of our life leave us.
Mark The Poet 