Goodbye

I did not say goodbye.

There are no memories framed

Neatly, stacked empty boxes. 

I will not remember you 

Nor will I trap you behind cardboard

Label you fragile

And let you collect dust. 

No, I refuse to let this mind wander

Through overgrown grass last July

Or reminisce about how it felt to stand

Side by side that Friday

Or how eyes would shine

And smiles would smile honest and true.
 No, I will not remember you.

And I will not say goodbye.

For your words do not line the past
They build the present. 

I take our time together

Clasped in trembling hands .
I vow to live your  naseeha

To follow your example

Knowing it is taken

From the messengers seal.

Those small gestures of adab

That moved my soul , will live

I strive to strive , to struggle

For an end greater than you or I .
So though these eyes shed tears
There is no sorrow, nor remorse

For I know and I dream of the day we will meet
So I feel no need 

To say

Goodbye