Poem, Cadence ...............................................Helen Yenson ’22

Cadence

Helen Yenson ’22

The elusive ‘goodbye’ is but a formality Curtailing our speech. One final moment before we depart For the greater unknown of the future.

I walk along the streetside, Listening to songs my younger self adored. Images, memories flash before me— Each beat is familiar, like a garden path I’ve wandered many times in my life. Larger footprints stamp over smaller ones Until nothing old remains.

Beyond the tunnel lies tendrils of light Pulling my feet ever-forward, the dirt Is carved with valleys, far and wide Into the fading dawn and a brighter birth.

When we are certain the traveler is gone, Their journey half-trodden into the road beyond— We can say that word truly, hear it ring, And watch as the sound dissolves the air: Never quite reaching our traveler.

The Publication of the Arts 5