Leaving New Jersey

soon you’ll be leaving new jersey.
very soon.
so soon, you can easily count
how many times you have left
to walk through this door,
save for the two or three times
you’ll forget something in your car
and will have to go back.
so soon, you can easily count
how many times you have left
to do the usual routine:
get up in the morning,
do something all day,
go to bed at night.
after that the routine will be the same
and yet it will be all different.
why does it feel that it will be all different?
why does it feel that you’ll never return here?
never return to the usual?
why are the words ‘leaving’ and ‘forever’
stuck in your head
next to each other?
there will be phone calls,
there will be letters and post-cards
there will be visits,
and some day you’ll come back.
or won’t you?

there was a girl i once new,
but i never got to know her
and now i’m sorry.

soon you’ll be leaving new jersey,
there’s one thing to remember:
whatever may hold the future
leaving is not forever.

you’re saying good-bye to your friends.
you’re saying good-bye to your brother.
he’ll call,
he’ll write letters and send post-cards,
he’ll come to visit.
why does it feel that you’re parting forever?
you know it’s not forever.
it doesn’t have to be forever.
or does it?