The Long Goodbye

I wish
I knew
how to
say goodbye
eloquently.
Something
sweet but
painful is
communicated,
and a smart
man would
leave on
that note.
With me
it’s always
a clumsy exit,
a failure
to break,
a film
whose credits
are repeatedly
interrupted
with just
one more
one-liner,
just one
further
unnecessary
twist of
the epilogue.
I cannot
escape
with grace.
I could kill
five years’
worth of
poetry
with one
of my
ill-formed
goodbyes.