Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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Goodbye

Did I do something wrong?
Did I say something I wasn’t supposed to?
Why did you leave me like a child crying at school,
pleading for their parents to come back?
Only they come back, and I know you will not.

You weren’t supposed to leave.
I never saw you go.
You didn’t leave a letter.
Can I come with you? We could run away up to the clouds
and hide there forever.

Are you really gone forever?
Can I save you, or is it too late?
I heard your voice, you whispered in my ear, but it sounded
like a scream.
“I’m sorry.”

Sometimes I wonder what I would be like if you were
still here.
Would I be happier?
Would I cry less?
I miss you.

Goodbye Caroline Thompson
Caroline Thompson, 12
Pound Ridge, New York