farewell o farewell

though an atheist and nonbeliever in the hereafter
isaac asimov titled the chapter in his autobiography
that detailed his father judah’s death
“farewell to my father”

perhaps isaac the son was paying peculiar respects
acting as if he believed because he knew his father had believed

farewell is a nice command
and it’s natural to toss it around
though the meaning is warped in the tossing

the everly brothers sang “bye bye love”
which strictly speaking means
“god be with you god be with you love”

or even more strictly speaking means
“may god be with you may god be with you love”
giving it the subjunctive
out of respect for god
who is beyond human command

i have slowly been farewelling a profound love affair
to wish it to fare well is honest
however unrealistic