This is Goodbye

oh hello to you there.
do I know your name?
forgive me for forgetting.
such a poetic name
to match the strong face
of a romantic
with a warrior's facade.
I could love you,
you know.

hello again
after only minutes
that stretch to days
in the tortured uncertainty
of my mind.
your decisiveness is attractive.
a leader you are
or will be someday.
destined for greatness.
I could love you,
you know.

hello once more
after this stretch
of years--
not that you haven't seen me
every day
every week
every month,
as the seasons passed me by.
you blossomed with the spring
leaving me alone
in the destitute land
of the endless winter.
still,
I might love you,
you know.

hello, hello
this salutation grows old.
will we ever move past it?
I long for much more
than simple pleasantries.
shall you and I never be
more?
or less?
this caught in the middle act
wears thin
and my nerves fray.
I do love you,
you know.

love
I pour it out to you
my darling,
as you ignore this precious gift
that costs me the joys of life.
loving you pains me so,
yet I do not give up.
not yet.
I am persistent.
I love you,
you know.
I will wait.

hello again.
a lifetime has passed me by
as I stood here
hoping
praying
waiting.
fruitless passive pursuit
has left me
apathetic
lonely
and old.
you have your dream life
perfect wife
perfect children
perfect career.
perfectly in order with the plan
that never included me.
so this hello
will be my last,
as I am now stepping out
out of your flawless existence
and into independence--
the freedom of you.
do not despair; you will not miss me.
I loved you,
you know.
but no more.
never again.
this is goodbye.