Poem: Goodbye Again

I recently discovered where my first poems ran off to. For some reason, when I got my new laptop, they’d vanished. When revisiting my old (really slow) laptop to clear it off, I found the poems I wrote for my Creative Writing class back when I attended Evangel.

My main question when posting one here: how much do I edit it?

After four years, my writing style has certainly changed, for my stories and for my poetry. Would editing it now change the meaning I had intended when I submitted the poems, first for my class and later for my writing portfolio? Would editing now reflect my current style more than my former?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Either way, I’ve decided to leave the poems, at least the one I’m sharing here, untouched. Don’t worry, though. I edited it multiple times back in uni. The following work is dedicated to the members of the armed forces and their family members. Thank you for your sacrifice to protect the United States and her allies.

Goodbye Again

The threshold of another hollow house remembers the

months—years ago with company, smiles, and shouts. Now

filled with disinfectants, paint, and empty air, the building

stuffs Memories into the car again to

fly from the void

of singing oceans, laughing thunder, and whispering evergreens.

Another house frames our past:

handmade leis, cowboy hats, and matryoshkas.

New neighbors—family, not in blood,

but in swamp-or-desert-green garb,

fill home with guest books, new quilts, and pecan pies

as a company, we smiling and shouting.

Day—years tiptoe past.

Another house empties, chucking up its goods

like vomit. Our camo family remains behind

filling the void with “Goodbye.”

***

Let’s chat! Any other military brats out there? What sort of things in your house speak to where you’ve been? What’s the longest you’ve ever lived in one house/apartment? How long have you known your closest friends?

Similar poems: Dandelion Seeds, Cathedral, and Bury Me