Greeting And Farewell

For some reason the moments that stand out in my mind
Are the moments of greeting and farewell.
I take note on each day when I a new lover find,
And when over our love rings the final knell.

With Opal it was a fair bright day when I came to greet
Her, after long days of watch-and-wait.
I bumped into her, as if by accident, in the street,
And we talked and stayed out very late.

When I bid her farewell, it was a day gray as mourning,
With her beautiful eyes likewise clouded with tears,
Though of the end of our love we had frequent and fair warning.
I kissed her and bid her take care through the years.

With Maria it was truly an accident, a deep chance,
But from the moment I gazed into her eyes,
I knew that I was taking the first step of a dance
Filled with grace and likewise filled with surprise.

When Maria left, it was the most abrupt of my partings;
She was simply, when I woke one morning, gone.
She left a note saying she was good at broken-heartings,
That she always walked away into the dawn.

With Elizabeth, we met one night through a mutual friend,
And argued so hard and so long into the night
That before we knew it that night had come to an end,
And we walked home hand in hand in the early light.

With her it was passion, it was storm and fire and war;
We loved each other, but oh! how we fought!
And we struggled until we could sustain it no more.
Then we were parted with hardly a thought.

For some reason the moments that stand out in my mind
Are the moments of greeting and farewell.
I take note on each day when I a new lover find,
And when over our love rings the final knell.

I very carefully ready myself, tying up my long hair,
Putting on lipstick as though entering a meeting.
And as forth into the night and the passion I fare,
I wonder if tonight will see yet another greeting.