Lingering Goodbye

It wasn’t the first goodbye
They’d both been battered by the waves
So many times they had come close
“I love you” was just too hard
And not nearly enough

Youth was long gone
More than innocence had been lost
Too many questions would be left behind
Regret only for why not what once was
That was too simple

This goodbye would linger
Longer than other memories
The gaping holes in each of their days
Would never quite close up enough
To keep cold thoughts at bay

Rereading old letters
Was too dangerous
Though it helped to remember
All they had left
Were words