Avenues
Walking down the avenues of my mind,
the characters that played such crucial roles
spring back to life.
Each, in turn,
reciting the lines
with which they sealed my fate.Oh, I hear it all so clearly;
the timber of the voice,
the whispers,
the shouts...And I see the eyes...
a plethora of emotions
evoked in one solitary look
frozen in time...How many times was I fooled?
How many harsh words exchanged?
How many tears held back,
then shed?Such dramatics,
such hypocrisy.Such fear that in one horrible moment,
everything that had been built
with so much care...
for so long...
would be destroyed.All the goodbyes seem so final,
so mortal.
Especially those unspoken,
unannounced.
How they wound the soul!As I walk into the night
I see the faces,
the arms outstretched,
the hands waving...
And I can't tell if they're waving
hello or goodbye.Non è importante...
In Hawaii, they say "Aloha"
which means hello and goodbye.
In Italy they say "Ciao"
which also means hello and goodbye.Arrivederci...
Until we meet again.And meet again we will.
If not here,
then somewhere else.We did not meet by chance.
Carmen Colombo
October 1989