-- A Lifetime of Farewells --

by John Herlihy

Farewell to the eternity from which we were born,

Farewell to timelessness from which we were torn.

To prepare for final departure, a lifetime of farewells,

Life experience drawn from arcane antediluvian wells.

Goodbye to all childhood innocence in ruins as we age,

Old age a pale reflection of life as we turn the final page.

Goodbye to childhood friends, puberty, university years,

The pungent saltiness of all joys and sorrows in our tears.

Sweet farewell to the night lies in the coming of our days,

Sweet farewell to the day lies in the coming of our nights.

Goodbye to the loves that our life has intimately defined,

Goodbye to all strangers and friends, such generosity kind.

Farewell to all the happiness once existing, now forgotten,

Farewell to all the memories persisting, still remembered.

Farewell to all life’s intimacies that we could never resist,

Farewell to sorry and misery, however much they persist.

Winter’s sparkling icicles melt as tears in bidding its farewells,

Spring rains reawaken the frozen earth and refill emptied wells.

Summer may gracefully take its leave, but autumn tells the tale,

The stunning farewell of crimson leaves does every heart assail.

Why do we live or die we ask, bidding farewell to the day,

Every question seeks answer, finding solace when we pray.

The sound of dogs barking, of pigeons cooing on the wire,

The last bells of night tolling, a brave new world to inspire.

Yet nothing is ever finished and the heart forever yearns;

El mundo si gira, Galileo realized, the world forever turns.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 25 November 2023