A Farewell Letter

Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones Deck Prompts - Write a farewell letter.

My Brother Tim

My baby brother Tim Estey

He isn’t an Estey that is testy

Always good-tempered, I sigh

As a little guy

He was the very best, so why

Did he die before his time

And at a time like this, how can I rhyme

I have cried and cried. I have laughed until I cried

I can try and try, but I really can’t get past I tried

I gave him Reiki, and it wasn’t enough

It was really rough

I prayed for a miracle

We needed that, we told the guy with the collar, the clerical

We told each other

Not my brother!

I snapped at a few

It wasn’t their fault; I knew

But he was doing so well last week

He was well on his way to the peak

of that mountaintop that he needed to reach

to be on his way to living his best life, I preach

He loved his family, his children,

his grandson and their will be more grandchildren

~~

My daughter, who was more like his sister as they grew up together

Cried and cried too and told of all the things they did in all the weather

She said, “Mom, he could be a big brat! He spit luggies in front of me

as we walked down Clausen Avenue. And he knew I didn’t like that.” And then we

laughed and laughed as we could both see him do that and laugh.

“And remember the bathtub all full of dirt, when we would have to take a bath

As we had made mud pies”

Then, big sighs!

I feel so bad for his daughters and Henry, he is so young yet, the lad

He loved them all so much, and he was such a proud dad

Posting honor roll and award letters lately, almost every year

He was such a Dear

My brother Tim

We will all miss him.

Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones Deck Prompts - This can be to a spouse who died, a brother, a parent, a friend. To someone who didn't die. A farewell to alcohol, to a place you lived and are leaving to cigarettes or a bad relationship, to your old self. The possibilities are endless. To sickness, cancer, a bad knee. Give yourself time with this one. It can be done many times throughout your writing life.

What is so good about a "letter" is you have a built-in audience, someone or something you are automatically addressing, some entity your imagine will read it.

Sure, things like cake, a coke, winter, or an old house will listen in their way. Remember: in one world view, they are all sentient beings. But person to person in a letter is a fine thing and will help direct the mind.

Farewell to Amel, our friend

Farewell to alcohol and drugs - the end!

Farewell to Bemidji, the most racist town I've lived in.

Farewell to cigarettes and bad relationships that I took on the chin.

Farewell to my old self before recovery.

Farewell to sickness, cancer, and a bad knee.