Goodbye
Goodbye Mom, my two older brothers cried.
1930 – I was born, our mother died.
1932 - Daddy remarried, careworn
yet in time three more daughters were born.
Goodbye, peace and home, So long,
1941, Japan attacked British Hong Kong,
the day after they attacked Pearl Harbor.
We all had to leave, Dad stayed, the martyr.
Goodbye, Daddy, he remained in Kowloon.
1942, his life was taken, way too soon
In Santo Tomas, were the rest of his clan
1942, in prison, my youngest sister’s life began.
Goodbye, to friends who were starved to death;
so close we came to our own last breath.
1945, wrought our liberation
then we found out that Daddy was gone.
Goodbye, Philippines, Goodbye China.
Eight refugees headed to Canada,
where mom’s folks met their new kin.
Seven children just about did them in.
Goodbye, Grams, shouting Hosanna,
praise God, he sent us to Indiana.
Mom got a job at a children’s home;
no longer would we have to roam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goodbye, Mother. She was ninety-seven,
2002, when God called her to heaven.
All seven children alive, with grandkids galore,
we know her new home will offer much more.
February 23, 2023
contest: Writing Challenge G Words
sponsor: Constance La France
*Santo Tomas was a university in Manila used a Japanese prison camp
during WW II housing 3,785 prisoners. This poem is a sequel to my earlier piece, Funeral, just posted February 17, 2023.
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