Always the Goodbye Girl? - Music and Poem About Saying Goodbye

This is another poem from my notebook of “The A.M. Poems,” those I have written in the wee hours of the morning when my mind is whirling with thoughts and questions—and my pen is rambling. This particular poem questions the madness of the world, the quest for any kind of truth, and the inevitability of good-byes.

As a child, it's not abnormal to experience goodbyes in life. As a child myself, I began to wonder if that was just a part of life that would always be. Have you ever seen the movie "The Goodbye Girl," by Neil Simon? Starring alongside Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason has her own trust issues, as all her relationships seem to end in goodbyes, or, in her case, without always even the courtesy of a goodbye.

Even better than the movie--my mom had (and now I have taken over!) the 45 RPM record of "Goodbye Girl," David Gates' (from the group, Bread) beautiful song that I listened to many, many times as a child in the 70's. This touching, haunting song still grabs me, and I still wonder.... Who will say goodbye...and who will stick around? And does goodbye mean forever and that we'll never be together again?

A never-ending galaxy of good-byes

Lost romances

Tangled lies

Ill-gotten fame

And broken dreams

Endless crime—

Thoughtless and countless--

Wrapping itself around our time

Warping our senses,

Fragile minds,

Like puzzles, mazes,

No sense or rhyme,

A matter of looking

Or seeing or finding

Truth for love

Or hate or war

Or even children.

Like tasteless berries of fruitless wine,

We whimper

And fear

And open our eyes

One day in

Startled silence—

Good-bye.