FAREWELL (After Tu Fu) 

Now we have to part. 

You go in one direction,

I go in the other.

Will we be drunk together,

ever again? Last night, 

walking beside the lake,

we sang ballads to the moon,

nearly until dawn,

Today, we share headaches.

We can’t know what direction

our lives will take.

I’ll return to my home.

You’ll remain in my mind.

When I finish this poem,

once again, I’ll be alone,

listening to the waves lap

against the shore, quietly

eating away the stone.

George Freek's poetry has appeared in numerous poetry journals and reviews, most recently "Acumen"; "The Ottawa Arts Review"; "North of Oxford"; "Triggerfish"; and "Torrid Literature."