The hardest time to say good-bye <br />is when one is arriving <br />'Come in, ' you say, <br />'Come in and stay and warm yourself.' <br /> 'No, it's time to say good-bye.' <br /> <br />The hardest time to say good-bye <br />is when someone is leaving. <br />The fire still burning, <br />the coffee still warm, <br />dessert sits, barely nibbled, on a vacant table. <br />'Why don't you stay? ' you ask. <br /> 'No, it's time to say good-bye.' <br /> <br />Now good-byes fly like flakes of snow. <br />A winter wind cuts to bone, <br />its blade whistles in the flue. <br />Teeth, knives on paper skin, <br />stab through to my hollow soul. <br /> <br />Will there be spring? Perhaps <br />when the robins return <br />and tulips peek with tender shoots <br />to see their sun is really back. <br />It will be warmer, yes. <br /> <br />The hardest time to say good-bye <br />is when someone is gone. <br />A final hug, a squeeze, a wish <br />not felt nor heard, <br />lay silenced by lonely truth. <br /> <br />Good-bye.<br /><br />jay walter<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-hardest-time-to-say-good-bye/
