"To Say Farewell" by Scottlynn Ballard

I have resolved

That this poem will not be a

“Goodbye” poem

For, while I know that you are leaving, and

That the teachers will miss your presence as these halls will

miss bouncing off the echoes of your laughter like basketballs as

My heart will miss the feeling that seeing your brings,

Even so, goodbye is too harsh a word to say unto you.

“Goodbye” implies that we have not been with each other long enough to see again

in the future.

Implies that ‘yes, I enjoyed you while you were here, but you were but a quirky pastime

Passing by like seasons, as if I needed reason to keep you in my mind.’

“Goodbye” implies that I have never been to your house,

That we have never seen each other out of these halls,

That we have never met past the sound of the bell,

That we have no memories off campus.

So, I have resolved

That this poem will instead be a

Farewell, the hardest word.

Because farewell surmises that the halls will not sound the same

When your voice no longer bounces off the walls like volleyballs,

And the teachers will miss you, knowing you were unlike any student that has come before

Nor any that will come again

Farewell surmises that you were never a passing season, no,

You are evergreen.

Farewell is the best way I can say that I love you and

will miss you but will wish you the best of luck in every pursuit you so much as breathe in

Farewell surmises that even should I never see your face again

If you are five of 500 miles somewhere far, far away

I will still remember the way your smile lights up your cheeks

Or how your laugh brings summer breezes into any room.

---

Photo Credit: Eman Rana