Bitterness Of Last Goodbyes Poem by gershon hepner

The bitterness of last goodbyes,
the moment the goodbyes begin,
should never come as a surprise,
like when you are surprised in sin,
although that also should not be
a time for bitterness. You knew
the moment you began to love
each other sin would give a cue
for you to part, like Noah’s dove,
and follow evermore the raven,
which hesitated first to leave,
but ultimately found a haven
where the sinners do not grieve.
Don’t feel that sin made you a quitter,
forcing you to say goodbye;
though the last goodbye is bitter,
you are not a damselfly
which only has one day to live;
you have far more on which adieu
is not the message you must give,
like birds that far from Noah flew.

Inspired by four lines of a song by Noel Coward, cited by Ben Brantley in the NYT on July 1,2008 in a review of a dramatization of “Brief Encounter” with Tristan Sturrock and Naomi Frederick, currently playing at the Kneehigh Theater in London:

For I feel the misery of the end
In the moment that it begins,
And the bitterness of the last goodbye
Is the bitterness that wins.

7/1/08