I'll Never Say Goodbye
Long ago we traveled, unquestioning, around the world
Separated only by years, you as sunlight in my shadow
You followed me into the sky, but came to earth too soon
I said “Later” when we parted, but I never said goodbye.
We laughed in those early days
Grand adventures, taboos broken
Yet you ran too hard for too many years
And then were gone, but I never said goodbye.
We walked hand in hand across the world
Lived as one, gave life and comfort
Yet fate was cruel and unrelenting
I cried when you passed, but I never said goodbye.
I was captured by your eyes, the softness of your touch
Words unspoken, my foothold shattered
I hurt us both, more from fear than understanding
I lost you in the night, but I never said goodbye.
You live now as shadows in my heart
Your voices whisper in my ear, you guide without judging
You fill the albums of my mind with joy that cannot die
And until we meet again, my loves, I’ll never say goodbye.
Lee Alloway / 2018
Where Old Fliers Come to Roost
Each month Ancient Eagle Press offers a poem appropriate to the season or the mood of our editorial staff. Poems may be new or drawn from existing AEP editions.
Ancient Eagle Press
Archives
December 2018 -- Graandpa
November 2018 -- Meditation
October 2018 -- Benediction
September 2018 -- Passages
August 2018 -- Feeding the Beast
July 2018 - One Can Have Knowledge...
June 2018 -- The Unsinkable Molly Drown
May 2018 -- Advice to my Grandson
April 2018 -- Awaiting Idunn
March 2018 -- Flight
February 2018 -- Lakesong
January 2018 -- Schrödinger's Cat
December 2017 -- Daybreak
October 2017 -- Night Watch
September 2017 -- The Princess
August 2017 - Pelham
July 2017 -- Siena
June 2017 -- Loyal, Straight, and True
May 2017 -- A Thousand Flowers
April 2017 -- Oboe Rap
March 2017 - March Madness
February 2017 -- The Cost of Doing Business
January 2017 -- Reflection at a Winter Window
December 2016 -- The Creation
November 2016 -- Hemolymph Moon
October 2016 -- Vortex
September 2016 -- Do You?
August 2016 -- Sailing
July 2016 -- Mulberries
June 2016 -- Off Tucker Point
May 2016 -- Unforgettable
April 2016 -- At Night She Cries
January 2019
Another January, another New Year. This is culturally a time to look forward, to set goals or resolve changes for the year ahead. As I write this, however, it is actually New Years Eve, a time less for looking forward than for looking back. This is the day of remembrance, as Robert Burns (he of Alloway, Scotland) has recorded, for “Auld Lang Syne”— for old time’s sake. Our vision of the future is limited and uncertain; searching, we reach our hand into a mist. The past is vast and unchanging, yet as we reach back there is no way to touch time or people gone by. As Burns says,
“…seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.”
Indeed, broad seas…chasms…separate us and cannot be spanned. So, for old time’s sake, we remember those past and hold them dear once more. For in truth, we never said goodbye.
Poem of the Month