So this is how we say goodbye
to the people we love
to the people we’ve been
to the roles we’ve played
to the lives we’ve lived
Stepping onto the stage of our life, knowing that sometimes
sometimes we get to say a proper goodbye with applause and an encore and a bow
Sometimes no one is there, in the seat reserved for them
but we say it anyway, as we hold their picture up to the light
thank you and I love you and where are you and come back and can I hug you one more time
Sometimes we step onto that empty stage with our lines ready and our palms sweating
and then turn around and run backstage, where we can weep our lines in private
because we’re just not ready to share them with the world
Sometimes we can’t reduce it to a line or two or fifty,
so we don’t ever say goodbye to them, to us, to who we used to be
We just say hello to each new breath, each new moment, each new day.
Monique Minahan 