The Road Goodbye
By Edward Thompson 1967
The road I took was named Goodbye;
The path looked strange, I wondered why,
It left familiar things behind.
A hand caught mine... I paid no mind.
The stranger never once did say
Just what had brought him on my way.
On we went, and some afraid--
I wish I hadn't come but stayed.
All the friends that I once knew
Took a road named Goodbye too.
There were no two roads the same,
Though all were called Goodbye by name.
The road went on, we went on too,
And I was sad, for then I knew
That never could I be the same
Having walked down Goodbye Lane.
And though I couldn't understand,
We walked together hand in hand.
We said no words, but just walked on,
I thought of things now passed and gone.
I thought of games I'd lost and won,
I thought of all the things I'd done.
I thought of those I loved and cared,
Of times we had, of things we shared.
1 thought of those I'd come to know.
Just knowing them, they'd help me so
I thought of things, of tears I'd shed...
Those same things now brought a smile instead.
The tasks I'd done, those left to do
I wondered how I'd make it through,
But something inside seems to say,
"Do the best you can from day to day.
The way was rough, I knew the score.
It never ends, there's always more.
But now I know that all in all
Everything in its place will fall.
I thought of all the happy days,
The sad ones now, seemed just a haze
And in a flash I came to see
How much the past had meant to me.
We walked along, I wondered where
The future led and what was there.
The past still echoed from behind
I was it, and it was mine.
But in my heart was still a fear,
And in my eye a shining tear
Yet on my face there was a smile
And we walked forward all the while.
I walked along the road Goodbye
I looked back once more and heaved a sigh,
Then I remembered at my side
My silent but constant guide.
The strangers hand I felt in mine
I looked into his face this time
I asked his name, he turned just so,
He smiled and said
"I'm called Your Friend