The Long Hello and the Short Goodbye

I did not struggle to open my eyes But slept within a million experiences Which hung with all their possibilities Expectant and waiting to be For years I danced their chance of plethora I followed their ways of sorrow and joy In their discourses of pains and pleasure Found my footsteps in the lessons they offer I could say I grew in searching My one book of life through the seconds of its writing To seek out love and the spirits of friends And with them and through them maybe understand Oh! And I have seen such beauty! Breath taking in delicate and vast horizons Tenderness so humble to stir the emotions As I walked in this union among you In time I bore witness to the birth of my children And looked into the eyes of an innocent eternity Felt the world shake as they began their journey To a sweet life my heart so wished for them And still I travel the twists and turns Those down-slides and those uphill slopes Verdant valleys and breathless mountain tops Still my wished for and still my hopes Lovers and friends have passed beyond Their presence their voices seemingly gone To a different turn in the road ahead To continue life I feel they are called beyond And I will say for them and for myself to you This long hello we give in living This hi there stranger how are you Has been worth the potential of every minute As we stand here now on th threshold of this miraculous And open our eyes to the infinite possible Each moment spent in this long hello Is no less made easier by its short goodbye