The good-bye

The good-bye is not a leave-taking

that’s always distant, or perhaps

forgotten with the years,

it’s a ‘see you soon’

that shifts in time

and out of fear we embrace

silence, and I turn to you

like a damp leaf

nestled in the soul’s

deep recesses,

at times letting itself be swept

along by the water’s

gentle freshness…

I heave a sigh

and delve deeper

into others’ feelings

manifest in the flesh

as an accursed tattoo

of warm good sense

spreading a fragrance

of rosemary.

A distant silhouette

fragmented by the years,

wounded and worm-eaten

by suffering, seeks

support among the stones

of the road, ploughing

its fate’s furrow, rooted

in its own being like the tree

that every autumn

sheds its dry leaves

just as man

erases his memories

drawing new strength

from the Spring breeze

that in his

slumbering dreams

gradually… awakens.