How to Say Goodbye

Leaving means:

The end of
arthouse movies at the Barbican,
the kind that never make it to Australia.

The end of
wandering through the centre of London, that gorgeous bit
with neon lights and bookshops and that incredible feeling of age.
London is hard to describe
feels like Chatuchak market in Thailand - endless and maze-like
and you never know what magic you might find.

This is the end of the best teaching job I ever had
and the most amazing five-year-olds I ever met.

This is the end of lazy weekends
frittered away in Lantana
and idle conversations with Frank and Andrew and Sid and Chetna.

A few friendships finishing,
you know the ones that were just beginning,
with people you think are cool
but you didn't have quite enough time to work up the courage
to tell them so.

And leaving means the beginning of something new
and shiny and good.