Letting You Go

Now I’ve found my strength to move on,

And I wish you all the best,

But I’ve got to be strong.

And I can do this on my own,

I don't need anybody’s arms

To carry me along.

Don’t be sad baby,

We were together, but together

We'll not make it through the storm.

We had each other,

There was no other, but my lover,

There's still something going wrong.

I’m leaving, I’m going but don’t stand there crying for me,

I’ll find my own way

And you’ll find your own way too.

I’m sorry, but one day you’ll look back and thank me for this,

I’ll always love you,

But loving you means letting you go.

I thank you for loving me so long

Oh but my darling, darling baby,

It’s time to move on.

But remember, remember

Time is a healer, for us both,

And we’ll always have this song.

Don't look back baby,

Looking back now, will compact how,

What we’ve suffered was all wrong.

Look beyond us,

Far above us, and you'll soon see

What we had is never gone.

I’m leaving, I’m going but don’t stand there crying for me,

I’ll find my own way

And you’ll find your own way too.

I’m sorry, but one day you’ll look back and thank me for this,

I’ll always love you,

But loving you means letting you go.

We had it all and it could have been right,

But I couldn’t take all of those lonely nights...

Those lonely nights.

So I’m leaving, I’m going but don’t stand there crying for me,

I’ll find my own way

And you’ll find your own way too.

I’m sorry, but one day you’ll look back and thank me for this,

I’ll always love you,

But loving you means letting you go.

Copyright © 2012 by Simon Austin


Music created & performed by Liam Coughlin - click here to listen

Empty

My cup is empty -
grey teardrops are in their beds
where the river weeps.

 Copyright © 2013 by Simon Austin

What is a Haiku?

A Haiku is a very short Japanese poem.  There are many rules that determine what is (and what isn’t) a Haiku in the very traditional sense.  As time and cultures have developed, Haiku’s and their rules have also widened in scope, and today’s English Haiku’s follow slightly different conventions to their traditional counterparts, but typically there is: 

A use of three lines of up to 17 syllables, traditionally in "5–7–5" form.  
An allusion to nature or the seasons.  
The use of a ‘caesura’ or ‘kire’ represented by punctuation, space, a line-break, or a grammatical break to compare two images implicitly.

Haiku’s generally try to reveal enough information around a subject matter without distinctly describing it or revealing its true ‘self’. Matsuo Bashō, a famous Japanese poet, described the Haiku as, "The haiku that reveals seventy to eighty percent of its subject is good. Those that reveal fifty to sixty percent, we never tire of."

This Golden Bay

Blow swiftly, wind,

From foggy shores beyond the waves.

Stand proudly, gate

Where beauty of the bay enclaves.

Sail slowly, ships

That pass the bastille withdrawing.

Sing softly, birds

When thanking summer's welcoming.

Sweep steeply, hills,

As lofty slopes buckle the rides.

Shine brightly, lights,

At night in vibrant city skies.

Cheer loudly, friends,

In places full of careless fun.

Watch peacefully,

Together, at the setting sun.

I left my life

On these shores, alien to me.

I left my soul

On piers above the turquoise sea.

I left my love

In random streets I had not walked.

I left my smile,

With people whom I had not talked.

I left my stress

Beyond that misty morning air.

I left my tears

With people that may never care.

I left all fears

In places that were far removed.

I left my hate

In battles that no longer moved.

I did not look

But found it all with little trials.

In city streets,

On wooden piers and prison isles.

A sense of one,

Belonging and affinity

With somewhere I

Had never expected to be.

I lost my cares

But did not seek them out, and then

I found my sense

Of wonder in the world again.

I lost my head,

But gladly now will let it stay,

To find my heart

Once more within this golden bay.

Copyright © 2013 by Simon Austin

Based on my adventures in San Francisco, July 2013