Last Goodbyes Poem by Kaila George

Last Goodbyes

Rating: 4.9


The hand of time
Held my tears in check
As I remembered the day
We received news of my brother’s death…so many years ago….

She watches as the phone rings
Her mother smiles and gives her a wink
Then from happy to sad
All in one breath
She had received bad news
I could feel her shake with tears
As she screamed in the phone…NOOOOOO

A hand held
As a small child
Tries to comfort her mum
All her mother could do was look at me
With so much pain
Not understand what was going on
She watched as her mother dropped the phone
Ran in her room and locked her door
Confused she stood at the door
All she could do was cry…as she listened to her mother’s sobs
For hours she stood thus
Listening to the wailing cries…scared and unsure
What to do…who to tell…the child could barely speak
Let alone reach the handle of the door
To open and try to comfort her mum

Then banging on the front door
As she heard her brothers and sisters yell
Open the door as they returned from school
Unable to reach the handle
She did the next best thing
And opened a window
For one of her brothers to climb in

Next thing she knew
Her dad came home
Angry…Mad…not saying a word

Then brothers and sister whispering words
Not saying much but crying instead
Confused she watched the drama unfold

Why would nobody tell her what’s wrong
Brothers being staunch sister eyes wet with tears
Why would no one tell her what’s wrong

Then words all mumbled death...gone...brother...she looked on in fear
Why was everyone so sad….TELL ME SOMEONE

His name was never mentioned again
I was only four years old
My brother was with us one minute gone the next
I could never understand why back then
Till I was old enough to understand

Tears trickle down my face
As I remember his warm embrace
When I said my last goodbye never really knowing
I would never see him again
Still brings me to tears

©Kaila George 2013

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
I miss him...even though I barely remember him...I can still hear his cries...I can still feel his warm chubby hands in mine..I can still smell his baby smell when I helped my mother bath him...just miss him.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Pradip Chattopadhyay 06 August 2013

brief though, his fragrance you hold close to your heart to have penned this poem with such intensity of feelings.

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Khairul Ahsan 07 August 2013

The poem has flowed from the heart. Makes everybody sad as you are.

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Naida Nepascua Supnet 09 June 2015

Shocking Kaila..this is by far your most touching poem. I saw each action unfolded I watched everyone's reaction And I sensed your pain as a child I was hurt too This is a sad theme But your poem is magnificent.

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Roseann Shawiak 04 April 2015

Whoa! Your poem brought me to tears, as a child of 4 knows not of death, nor the understanding of it. Unable to reach the door handle, hearing her mum's sobs from the other side, it just totally grasped my heart and brought me into the image my mind was seeing due to your superb imagery, Tremendous depth of feeling and emotion. I felt myself right there with that child. An amazing and heartrending poem, it just seems to flow from your memory of that moment in your life. Thank you for sharing this poem, RoseAnn

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Kevin Patrick 29 August 2013

This is without a doubt one of the most saddest heartfelt poems I have encountered on this website, its up there with several others that have saved to remember pain is universal. Whatever good I can give to you I bid to you. Thank You

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Neetha Sasidharan 21 August 2013

touchy.....even more touchy when i realised that this is a true incident.......lyf is sometimes crooked it takes away innocent people....

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Sekharan Pookkat 08 August 2013

Departure is always painful - penned it beautifully

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