
Old Acquaintances
We never say goodbye
Because we never know we’re standing at the change –
For all that time must fly,
That’s somehow always in the future, out of range.
We only see the end
In retrospect, once it has long since been and gone –
A few words with a friend
That don’t mean much, except of course they don’t go on.
We say we’ll see them soon,
Although in truth it’s less a promise, more a hope.
Before we know, it’s June,
And then we notice they’re no longer in our scope.
Not ev’ry friend is ‘best’,
But still the casual ones are needed just the same.
Just twice a year or less
We get to meet, but still we’re always glad they came.
Tomorrow never comes,
Until it does, and then a thousand slip on by.
Don’t fret about the sums –
The world moves on, that’s sometimes just the way things lie.
We never say farewell,
We say we’ll see you later, don’t be strangers, cheers.
And that’s the last we tell,
A moment’s pause to punctuate the crowded years.
