Goodbye Poem

By Bill Niemeyer, July 20, 2018

Where’s the best place for a family to put down its roots,

Where the kids can prosper like healthy green shoots?

Exotic places in distant lands have their charms

But there’s also the change of unexpected harms,

Such as war and revolution and parasitic disease,

Where panic might follow a harmless sneeze.

Yet, here in the Southland we suffer congestion and heat,

And you’ve concluded staying would not be discrete.

You heard of a land to the North that is lush and green

Where natural beauty just waits to be seen.

Where the fish in the streams just hop in your pan,

And the weather seldom requires the use of a fan.

Then, we told you that in winter, there’s ice and snow,

And buckets of rain that make your driving slow,

Where, if you stop moving you’ll then suffer a loss,

Because you’ll quickly be covered in thick green moss.

And, even if you take precautions and cry and sulk,

In a year your car will be reduced to a rusted hulk.

Then there’s the wild blackberry vines that grow so high

If you don’t cut them often they’ll blot out the sky.

It’ gloomy and wintery most of the year,

With frequent occasions to use your survival gear.

But, then, in the Spring, when the sun finally returns,

For a few days, nature is glorious and erases concerns.

Well, my negative thoughts you have branded a lie,

Even though I’m mostly considered a truthful guy.

But, in this case, I must confess to an ethical failure,

As black as any committed by a drunken sailor.

The thought of your leaving just made me fib,

For it was as emotionally painful as the loss of a rib.

But, you never swallowed my gloomy description,

You knew right away it was an exaggerated depiction.

Now, you’ll soon be off to a new adventure,

And your lives will be filled with experiences to treasure.

So, go with our blessing, and find your way,

And know, for your success, we will faithfully pray.

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