Once again we see through a glass darkly, [1]

No longer face to face

As the distance of an autumn fog

Creeps stealthily upon us

Clothing us with separation.

The mystery of a shared journey

Exploring the unknown with a lonely pilgrim

In discovery of common ground 

Ends abruptly 

With a hypnogognic [2] start.

A wander through the rain forest

With the multiple sensations of drenched skin

Distorting the vision

With eyelashes dripping tears

Of the Rainbow Falls [3].

And the climber waves goodbye

Disappearing into the mists of Himalayan heights

And the eternal snows engulf

As she trudges upwards

Into a new existence.

We feel as though another cardinal has died [4]

And we're filing past an office

In the homage of respectful silence

Longing that he were back

But knowing he's gone.

The haze of the Queensland coast

Dazzles the newcomer

Regaining composure

Making the new beginning

Promised in the spray of the sea.

Your going sparks memories

Cultivated in dreams

Which fade into the waking day

With escape and enter on the screen dot org [5]

Still wondering how to say goodbye.

7 October 1999

(National Poets' Day)

[1]  1 Cor:13:12

[2]  The jump just as one is about to go to sleep

[3]  Victoria Falls

[4]  Basil Hume

[5]  The computer keyboard