—after Akhmadulina

Some things you don’t come back from.
The body carries on. Of late
it even travels, basks in light.
But knock and there’s no one home.

(How did I love you? With the taste
of iron on my tongue. Try again.
How did I love you? Like a man
destroying what he tries to save.)

The head still does light labor.
But often both the hands fall slack,
and all five senses, in a flock,
go south to weather winter.

Copyright Credit: Geoffrey Brock, “Goodbye” from Poem-A-Day (August 29, 2025). Copyright © 2025 by Geoffrey Brock. Used with the permission of the author.