Your Laugh (Mandi) (2/13/16)

It seems like only yesterday,
That you turned and said goodbye.
Not knowing that I'd never hear,
Your booming laugh nearby.
I still see you walk the halls,
Out of the corner of my eye.
My heart skips a beat a moment or two,
And then someone else passes by.
The phone, it rings, can it be you,
To tell us you're doing fine?
I pick it up, but hear no voice,
On the other end of the line.
But something tells me you are near,
That you never went away. 
It's in the laugh that I still hear,
Echoing from yesterday.

TLA 7/25/15-2/13/16

Goodbye (Villanelle)

Goodbye

Sometimes you have to say goodbye,

To those you meet along the way,

Then they’re gone and we never learn why.

Some are gone in the blink of an eye,

They’re here and then they go away,

Sometimes you have to say goodbye.

We rage, we cry, we try to deny,

We get on our knees and pray,

Then they’re gone and we never learn why.

Others linger, they will defy,

They do all they can to stay,

Sometimes you have to say goodbye.

But, no matter how hard they try,

They eventually fade away,

Then they’re gone and we never learn why.

Some walk away, others die,

There are things you never get to say,

Sometimes you have to say goodbye,

Then they’re gone and we never learn why.

6/1/14 TLA

*First attempt at Villanelle poem.