Saying Goodbye Ominous towers of clouds rose above us
As we came climbing up those Narrow roads in the hills of Virginia Where the rivers run wide and lazy And the gardens grow rich in bounty We held our breaths to postpone The rain from falling on her sunny day And it kindly waited The breeze kind and cool against our Sweaty cheeks walking up the slope To the quiet mound of dirt near the Low boughs of the old oak tree We came somber and slow The gentle whisper of wind Urging us on and the iron clouds Obediently parted to our silent pleas Amber sun poured down to bathe us all In honeyed delight, our souls shivered A bit at the sight and that sickly Bittersweet kiss of nostalgic memory Upon all our lips we raised our voices To the song she chose in knowing Pity to our plight—we sang integrity And grasped the thin melody for Our loneliness, our weeping keeping company With the buzzing bees And we spoke of warm days gone by With fondness tinged with the taste of Our own misery and I Stood, faced her and the golden dew Rained in sheets of light blurred in my Crying eyes and I played like I’d Promised, the song she loved, and the angels Heard it, guided the threads of music From my flute to heaven above where She stood listening and laughing At my sorrow And on our way home the gray sentinels Marched back in and sent the water Gushing from the sky to tear new Rivers in the dry earth but we were Just in front of that downpour And the sun was racing ahead of us And the seven colors of creation splashed Across the high wide sky