Goodbyes Poem by Maya Hanson

Goodbyes are the only promises I will make.

You can pretend we won't hang by a thread tomorrow
we can survive the fraying
but from this far away I can't color you in,
I can't fit smiles and leaving together like puzzle pieces…
this is the first and last time you will see me cry.

Goodbyes are the only things I will leave here.

Now I seem to slip down all the slopes,
can't hold myself to the ground without you,
I have always been afraid of the sky
but I'm more afraid of being buried alone beneath my feet
so I will take a running start.

Goodbyes are the only things I will let fall like hope.

When I tell my words to touch you for the last time
you know I will take any excuse to stay here a second longer,
I will write you into quicksand so I'm rooted.

But goodbyes are the only promises I will make.
Give me a different hello
and I will make you a better promise.