"Saying Goodbye" spoke to me. My grandmother died a year ago. i wasn't really close to her at all, I don't think I ever told her that I loved her. Not once. iIm sorry for that now, but while she was living, I didn't think twice about it. she'll never know that I cared imensly for her.

thanks for the poem

 I'm sensitive to the subject of the peice, and respect the emotions you feel. As a poem, however, it lacks substative imagery and despite the substance of the emotions. This reads like a tribute to your experience losing someone close, and not  a tribute to your grandmother. I don't get a sense of who she was as a person, or the definitive impact she made on your life. All that resonates here is loss, and the whole thing is missing the sublime quality that makes it a poem. It reads like twitter entries from the first month after the passing of your grandmother.

I was always afraid you would leave me

Afraid - what does that feel like? - what does it taste like?

Without any sort of goodbye

How does this reconcile with the first line?

But now that you are gone

Is she always with you? Now that she is gone? There is a continuity here that can be used to great effect.

I am brave enough to cry.

How did you get there from here? You went from afraid to brave without helping us understand how or why. Was it something she said or did? Was it time?

Thank you for sharing the emotions you felt. Sorry if the critique feels too coarse. The resivoir of emotion that fuels this poem is deep and meaningful. Express it in a way that only you can.

The poem is touching, I can get a sense of how you feel when I read this poem.  Of course no one will truly know your pain, I feel that you did a pretty good job conveying it.  I'm always amused when I find poetry that rhymes, from the recent works I've read, I feel that rhyming poetry truly is a dying breed.  I applaud you for your language and being able to tie your theme in so well.

This poem seems to be more telling than showing.  It would have been intersting if you had used more sensory in your poem and then near the end quote your verse,

Everybody says they understand
What I’m going through right now,
And maybe they actually do,
But I can’t really see how.

it would have been interesting to see how exactly this pain has affected you.  Has the sky lost it's blue?  Do cookies taste the same?  Does your favorite song still move you?  Has this turned you cold to the world?  How do you react when people try to show their sympathies?

my favorite lines in this poem,

But now that you are gone
I am brave enough to cry.

absolutely beautiful!  There really is nothing more beautiful than somethign like that.  I truly enjoy poetry and phrases that are laden oxymoronic such as these, words that aren't usually grouped together.  It really keeps a reader on their toes.

you convey your grandmother as a strong woman in so few words,

“I will always be with you”,
That is what you said,
Without a tear in your eye,
While dying on your bed.

the fact that she knew it was almost the end and she wasn't afraid really speaks through this poem.  It also speaks to the strong grand daughter she has.  I really think this is a great poem and I would love to see more showing adjectives rather than telling.

 Many people who haven't suffered the loss of a loved one will say they understand, but they really can't.

I have several poems about my husband dying, and I'll post them as soon as I get enough Karma points.

Thank you for sharing this excellent poem.

 As Annabella has already said before that she doesn't think she ever told her grandmother she loved her I didn't either. The only difference is that I was close to my grandma. I can relate to this poem many different ways but this isn't about me. I almost hesitated to even read the poem by the title cause I really wasn't looking for any sadness today but I'm actually glad I did because I got to see how good of a writer you are. You expressed your feelings well into this and I congratulate you for that because not alot of people can do that. I encourage you to keep writing for as long as possible. Thanks for your time.