when i get real tired sometimes, i start to think too much, and then i listen to someone speak or watch a movie or hear that song that always gets me, and i think about goodbyes.
the trouble with goodbyes is that i used to be good at them. i used to be able to sense when they were coming, and i had the energy and awareness and connection and forethought to make the most of them, to prepare, to ceremonialize them into something worth remembering, something to write down, something to hold sacred and warm. i also used to be good at kissing, and writing punchy and sometimes decent poetry, and dancing. but like my film cameras and sketchbooks, those things are remnants of a past i remember fondly, while i dust them off to replace them on the shelf next to more books or under more bills. and those goodbyes, well, i've become afraid of them.
it all started when i fell in love with a girl who left all the time.
she had spent her life saying goodbye, had gotten used to it, had a well-worn hug and promise to call when she got in. then i found her, gave her my poems and tears and big, bleeding heart, and it was too heavy to take with her, so she stayed.
we kept moving, at least twice a year, in and out of student shanties, living the dream and making love out of the rest of it, and there were fewer and fewer goodbyes. i spent last week away from her, with our two little dreams, and it was a very hard place to be. now i'm tired, i saw my brother off at the airport this morning, then i watched a movie about brothers, and it's the end of the day, and i'm worried about the next goodbye.
my life is not in danger. no matter how many people pride themselves on risking it during my thirty minute commute in the morning, my life is pretty solid. fragile, indeed, but all parts point forth, and so it goes. i'm struggling though, these days, to figure out a grand goodbye, because to admit that it needs to be said would be to admit that something will end. there is a life in danger, maybe even ending, and this deserves a good hard talk, a true finale, a celebration of the good that was had. and from there, i don't even know where we go.
I wish I had more inspiring things to say to you right now other than your writing never ceases to amaze me. This post in particular is very touching and very relatable. I have no advice for the good-byes. There are only two kinds of good-byes, to me: ones you hold on to with all your heart and ones you let go of. Eventually, with time, you are able to hold on to these ones too, when your heart heals again. Anyway, you've inspired me to keep writing here, at midnight, when I just want a lot of other things. Sadly, my paper will mean nothing to the people reading it or marking it. It's just something I have to do. But now, I will make it more touching instead of argumentative. And that's thanks to stumbling upon your blog tonight. Keep writing, friend. It helps with everything, even good-byes.
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