Goodbye Doesn't Need to Be an Ending

I left you at the shore of long ago,

each moment a breath of time

compared to all the years

where you populated my senses.

The little boat I made you,

a candle lit in the center,

floated out beyond my reach—

as if it were you drifting away

to a place I could no longer touch.

The wind cooled my senses

while the tears ran dry

because you were gone and

there was no point in crying.

You would have laughed

that hearty chuckle of yours

and told me to keep my tears

for a day I'd need them most.

You hadn't believed in anything

but the strength of yourself,

telling me there was no fight

that would beat you down.

"Losing isn't my style"—

those words a mantra

you always took with you.

But now here I stand

and the memories fade

as if they are dew in the sun.

"I won't say goodbye," you said

right before your heart stopped,

"because this isn't an ending."

And in those words I must believe

you're biding your time, waiting

for me to catch up to your pace

and meet you somewhere down

that road beyond this life,

whatever it might be.

Author's Note: I wrote this poem for my uncle, who was diagnosed with cancer on April 22, 2021. I don't know where he will go from here as of this writing, but I needed to write something cathartic for me to process the news. You can say it's not a happy poem, but for me there's hope that, even when our roads diverge from those of our loved ones, there is still the chance that we may meet again.