The Leaving: A Definition
(This poem is made from various definitions of “leave”, “leaving”, “left”, compiled and condensed from various dictionaries across the internet.
The first of a series of stories and other nonfiction, shared over the coming months.)
- Go away from
- Depart permanently
.. - Allow to remain
- Abandoned
.. - Something left behind
- To give over to another’s care
.. - An act of departing
- A farewell
.. - Something that’s left: residue
- An abrupt departure without a farewell
.. - Not used up; leftover
- That which remains behind: discards, remnants
.. - To omit
- Become different; undergo alteration
.. - Departing a cherished place
- To leave is to die while the ones you love go on living
.. - Intentionally leaving people and things behind
- To learn to say goodbye
.. - To move forward
- To remain changed
After I wrote this, I thought of Tanya Tucker’s version of “The House That Built Me”. It holds the same ache of how leaving isn’t just about what we take with us, but what is still left inside of us, and what we leave behind.
©2025 John Francis Nooney
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John Francis Nooney 
I like the metaphor of liminal space, standing in the limen (doorway) not ready to step through the door to whatever comes next. While in the doorway we become liquid like the caterpillar in the chrysalis (full of anguish and tears). The good news is we can choose while in liminal space to keep what we want, (values, attributes, personality structures, etc.) and leave behind that which we no longer need. When ready we step through the door.
As an aside, “when one door is closed—god, the universe, fate, whatever opens another door” — BUT THE HALLWAY IS A BITCH.
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