Ginny said good-bye this afternoon
As far as I can tell
She can’t bear the good-bye evenings
Or the morning afters of farewell.
She says, “Here you are another one to whose back I’m saying cheers. It’s like a death in the family and it’s been going on for years.”

And so I’ll cast my leaving shadow
And I’ll be Canadian
But distance won’t decide what matters
To the Hard Rock’s loving son.
And when I’m thinking of St. John’s
I’ll bring her closer with a song
I don’t know where I’m going but I know where I belong

Don’t get the old man started
Or I’ll have to hide him from the rum
If we can keep his mind from ’49
He’ll keep having fun.
Oh, it’s not the kids he’s cursing
Though I’m his third to leave
He’s mad at Mr. Smallwood
And it’s a parent’s right to grieve.

So let’s take a moment’s silence for our dear departed souls
Let’s fly our flags at half their mast
As another young man goes
The laughter of the children
supplanted by the rolling ghosts
Another tide surrenders
to a far and foreign coast

I told Mom I’d stay closer to the cousins
Who beat the path from our front door
One right after the other and they won’t be back no more
But the thing I think I fear the most
She whispered in my ear
Is being the last flower in the garden
With no one left to care

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