I Love You, Goodbye. A Poem for my Teenage Daughter

I wrote this poem about fifteen years ago when my daughter was a teenager and we were having our typical teenage difficulties. I loved her fiercely then and I still do.

I Love You, Goodbye

by Terri Blazell-Wayson

I love you, good-bye

I say to the back

Of a teenage head.

It’s funny how the

Back of a head

Can say so much

But if you have a teenager

You already know that.

I love you, good-bye

As she steps out of the car

And into the schoolyard

Before I pull away

And go to work.

I know she hears me.

I know she’s making a face; I know.

She doesn’t know

That life is short

And in the few hours

That we are apart

Those could be the last words

She ever hears from me

And so

I always want them to be

“I love you, good-bye.”

A friend taught me that

When he rolled over

And kissed his sleeping wife

Before heading off to work.

He never saw the car

That ran the red light

But his wife will always have

“I love you, good-bye”.

My neighbor knew

When she stopped by unexpectedly

With a sack of home grown tomatoes.

“You’re going out of town”, I said.

“This could have waited till you got back.”

Only she didn’t come back.

I’m so glad I have a sack of tomatoes and

“I love you, good-bye.”

Someday, she’ll be old –

My teenage daughter

Who knows so much more than I

About everything.

One day, she’ll realize

She knew nothing at all

But she’ll always have

“I love you, good-bye.”