so long (a john brehm poem)

To break this day
free from all
the others

to stand at the
morning end
of it and

push off from
the shore
sail beyond

the reach of all
my failures
calling after me

“You can’t just
leave us here”
shaking their fists

crowding into
the water
clamoring “We

made you who
you are” to
feel their voices

growing small
underneath
the surf

the wide un-
knowable ocean
all before me.

- “So Far” by John Brehm
Poetry Magazine Vol 178, June 2001