The opposite of hello
is not goodbye
because both hello and goodbye
suggest ongoing relationship.
The opposite of hello
is silence,
the silence of nothing,
the silence that follows death
that comes with no goodbye,
just sudden, inexplicable absence.
It's hello
spoken hopefully in the entry,
unanswered,
crushed by absence,
without the dignity, the kindness of goodbye.
Text and image © 2015 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.