Sunday 10 February 2013

Of farewells


 
 
We cannot be sure if we’ll meet again -
who can know beforehand which one is final?
and both of us have learnt to say this farewell
many times over, without the groundswell
of emotions, dramatic formats of love overdone;
her smile’s still radiant, eye-sockets hooded with pain,
her voice rock-steady without a tremble,
“It’s done me no end good, my dear. When
do you come back?”  My voice too is strangely even,
“Maybe next year? I really can’t tell.”
I leave without looking back, and she remains
unyielding in her chair by the window as usual.
The cab-driver knows from my face the terminal
and drives me straight there where they end and begin.






Shared at dVerse where the prompt today is the art of letting go.




 

12 comments:

  1. The cab-driver knows from my face the terminal
    and drives me straight there where they end and begin...what a great closure to this moving poem.. kinda sums it up again...

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  2. Wow, do I ever like this poem. It packs a lot of emotion. Yes, you never know if one visit with someone will be the last...and the cab driver knowing that the destination is the terminal without a word being said is a powerful ending indeed!

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  3. A lot of emotional undercurrents here, a goodbye said over and over again, who really knows its finality ~ Nice to see you ~

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  4. very nice....there is a lot of emotion just under the surface and we never know what the next day may bring...or if this may be the last time i see you...we hope but...love that the cab criver knows as well....

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  5. Lovely, really hit home for me.

    Thanks for sharing you talent with us Nilanjana, so appreciated!

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  6. ...the last two lines are quite playful and had me thinking in a different way...hmmn... loved the easy flow of the entire poem and silly where it took one's imagination... smiles...

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  7. so pertinent in life, the uncertainty of yet expected visits that end and maybe go on or not...excellent expression of the process )

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  8. ah very touching one Nilanjana. Its hurtssssss to say good bye... Sort of i remembered saying bye to my dearest friend!

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  9. Life is at best uncertain. You have portrayed this so powerfully!

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  10. Thank you all for your comments. Much appreciated.

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  11. I just read this again today...and it moves me yet another time! Good-byes are so hard, if you don't know there will be a hello again.

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