The hard goodbyes

I hate to leave,
And so I linger,
Drawing out the pain of parting.
I may smile as I go,
But inside, I churn,
And diminish.
I have the urge to walk backwards,
As I walk away,
In the hope it won’t feel like goodbye.
So I can pretend I can’t see
The dark tunnel entrance coming.
Everything passes so quickly now,
But sadly, not leaving.
Leaving likes to stay,
So long past its welcome.

I feel like I get so very little time for the small people in my life these days. Seems like every time I see them again they’re bigger. Soon they’ll have out-grown their uncle and be off doing their own thing. As it should be really but I still reserve the right to feel a bit sorry for myself!