This is the heartrending conclusion, the one nobody saw coming.
This is a sentence spoken in your calm tone, heavy as a wrecking ball,
crashing into the love we built from the ground up many years ago.
This is my realization the best has already passed on.
This is the final grain of sand touching the bottom of the hourglass.
This is you abandoning what you promised to cherish.
This is me being strong just long enough to say goodbye.
This is the shattered remains of our vow swept under the rug.
This is me waving in your general direction as you soar off toward
the opposite side of the planet faster than I can gather my thoughts.
This is the excruciating and tearful drive back into town.
This is me growing old in an empty house that’s no longer a home.
This is every lyric and melody of every song I once knew like the back of my hand
pouring out of my memory and staining the wood floor beneath my wrinkled feet.
This is the pen running out of ink.
This is me at a loss for words.
This is the bittersweet closing of the notebook.
This is you and I both sighing in relief.
This is all of us leaving the world.