-- WORDS TO SAY GOOD-BYE --

By John Herlihy

There are thousands of ways to say good-bye;

Each one may present a different reason why.

Every language has found its own suitable way;

Leave-taking always with a special word to say.

Whether said as adios, adieu, adeus, or addio,

Always conveyed as a whisper in sotto voce mio.

A clear reference to God if there ever was one;

Leaving things to God what has so happily begun.

Hawaiians say goodbye with the familiar aloha,

An expression of good wishes and sign of affection.

The Japanese reluctant to use the term sayonara;

Literally, if the end be that way, a kind of protection.

Ciao is a familiar expression that cuts across lines;

South Africans say totsiens, an expression that binds.

The Jews offer shalom as a farewell without cease;

The Arabs say ma salaam to leave others in peace.

The Italians chirp arrivederci, until we meet again;

German auf Wiedersehen has hopes of where and when.

Certain occasions call for the expression bon voyage;

Spreading its perfume of hope like a flowering corsage.

When we take our leave, we say goodbye as if fled;

Like sayonara a sense of finality, as if the heart bled.

Most people have now forgotten what it first meant;

Goodbye was once God be with you, its true intent.

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(c) John Herlihy 8 March 2019