Leaving

A Poem by Middling

As you and I leave beyond the doors
I cannot help but think,
Of all those days of yore
It never had dawned on me until now
How much I would miss it here,
And such a hidden love it was.

Good night ,
And joy be with you all
As you leave beyond my sight.

I left five times before
But always returned
Never had I yearned,
In times of yore
Until now my love had finally unfurled.

Five years,
Of hopes and fears
Of loneliness and love
Of longing and belonging.

You wanted to leave
But could not go
Unhappy that I was
I could not heave.

Of all that you thought
How green it was elsewhere,
Not the worst but not the best
Lest you were always wrong
You were wrong after all.

II

At the parting glass
I think back of the day,
Of all done and said.
The end is this mass
And how my heart has bled.

Something doesn’t feel quite right
Handshakes and hugs all around
Messages wrote on the white.
No longer can we fight,
No road back can be found
Just in the distance a distant sound.

Then the taking of the tea and toast
And oyster shells
And a final toast
To those who did most well.

An emptiness never to be filled
Memories held forever,
Some good and some rotten
Five Years never to be forgotten.

After all I have learned
My mind had finally turned.

But time goes by
And I will be soon forgotten
And all traces gone but,
A notch on the wall
Or an etch on the window-sill
But I will always remember still,
Back when I wasn’t so tall.

Come fill to me the parting glass
Good night
And joy be with you all.