I Didn'T Say Goodbye Poem by Diana van den Berg

I was on leave
and so I didn’t know
you had phoned the office
to say that you were
going home to the farm
to die.
I wish I had known
because I would have phoned you
to say goodbye.

I wish I had phoned you sooner
to find out if you were feeling better.
I wanted to, but decided to
speak to you after Christmas.

Instead I sent you a Happy Christmas SMS
eight days after you had died.
Your family must have thought
that the office didn’t care enough about you
to tell the whole office.
However, I was on leave
and Julia said she had wanted to phone me
but the others didn’t want her to upset me
while I was on leave.

I popped into the office three days
after Christmas
and Adri broke it to me gently,
but this is not gentle news.
I sent your family an SMS
to explain.

I wish I had
at least
given you
and me
my goodbye.

(1 January 2006)