Poem by Joey Anderson
The time, drawing closer;
The page, turning over;
The tide, flowing out;
The dying of the clover.
Ends and ends and ends again
Hours slither past, then days, then weeks,
The trappings of memories long gone.
The time is coming, it always comes,
For the fall of night, then the hope of dawn.
Beginnings and ends and ends again
The chapter began and in the time ensuing
Nothing changed.
Now the writing is over, the characters leaving,
Rearranged.
End one, begin another, which ends, ends again
Water on the beach, high, long, wide,
Playing as ever on the shore;
Flowing soon, retreating down,
Pulled away to return nevermore.
Gone, in the end, an end that ends again
Fields of green, stretching to their ends,
Fields of luck unpicked:
Turning from these to fields other,
Saying goodbye with feelings mixed,
See plains of ends and ends and ends,
But always also beginnings again.
-Joey Anderson
Soli Deo Gloria
“Joey Anderson” is a 16-year-old Australian Missionary Kid living in Cambodia. Her family has served there for fourteen years, living in Phnom Penh, the capital city. She says writing, especially poetry, has proven to be very useful in dealing with the pains of transitioning.
About this poem:
“I have said goodbye this year to a number of close friends, including my older sister, and this is a poem I wrote in response to one of those many partings. It was my way of expressing my yearning for what had been but also my awareness of the beauty of what is to come and the fact that both can be home and that’s okay. I think many TCKs have such feelings at one point or another and I hope that my poem could resonate with them.”
Hear our interview with Joey (aka Joanna) in our podcast episode 6: Don’t Forget To Write.
