A Poetry Student Says Goodbye
Darcy Culley
This is one of those
Moments recollected in emotion
You always told us about.
Leaving is never easy.
But as I pack my bags
And prepare to say goodbye
I can finally see
Those stormy Illinois skies
With women waiting at windows
While their men muck about
In the deep, dark woods
Reflected in your eyes.
I hesitate to talk
My heart wants to write this goodbye
Because now I am a poet.
I turn, and try to leave quickly
Knowing that someday
I will see you again
Lounging placidly under the wisteria
A toddy in one hand
The works of Whitman in the other
And we will talk and laugh
(At times in Faulknerese)
And curse at the world below us
And you will know
That I have shoveled into my heart
Exposed every cavern
And yes,
Like you
I must write.
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