Messages from the other side
saying goodbye
my wife’s friend
contacted me
from beyond
whispering to me
to
‘take care of my own wife’
who was her friend
then
another time
A friend of mine
who passed
said
wordlessly…
‘Hey, it’s cool here, why don’t you join me!’
although
I was excited for him
that
he was having such a grand ole’ time
in eternity
I told him
I had to
‘take care of my wife’
that I had things to do
that I wasn’t quite ready
that I would have to see him later
and that was their only message
and
then they were gone
in silence forever
and
To those acquaintances and people
who aren’t here anymore
we
say goodbye
goodbye to grade school
goodbye to adolescence
goodbye to what you were
farewell to all childishness
and to all those things you once had
the loss of which
leaves something in its place
a maturity
yours to keep
be it burdensome
be it for growth
Is it that life’s too short?
that when you learn your lessons
no one asks you to share your wisdom?
is it that everyone else
cannot be told by you
that life must be their teacher instead?
that you are in the end
alone in your own mind
within your own feelings
and
inside your own thoughts
trapped by your own experience
in your own time
in a world by yourself
and time
yes that mysterious time
moves on
as it does
to where it will go
without anything
without anyone
slowing it down
or burdening it
it’s
this unknown thing
saying hello to you
when it decides you are going
with it
whether you are ready
whether you are not
and that
that decision is
so
not
up
to
us
