-- On Taking One’s Leave --

by John Herlihy

I live as though ready to take my leave,

Just pull up stakes with no need to grieve.

A readiness that inspires me where to go,

Always a new place where I nothing know.

What’s to know if everything already done,

A place has run its course, its web now spun.

My surroundings I leave at a bare minimum,

With few possessions in time’s continuum.

With my little carry-on bag, I close the door,

Out again into the wide-open world I adore.

Nothing so permanent I cannot leave behind,

Friendships, the little joys, I take with me kind.

They all stay with me, in my heart to reside,

Forward march, I say to myself, in God confide.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Sunday 7 March 2024