The Truth About Tigers

Most endings slip past unnoticed.
The last swim in the ocean,
the final bike ride home.
One day, you lift your child
without knowing it’s the last time,
their smallness slipping from your arms
before you realize it’s gone.

A final bedtime story,
a last school drop-off,
a closing conversation with a friend—
all ordinary until they aren’t.

We mark the big endings,
but life is a quiet unraveling,
a series of goodbyes we never think to say
until we’re looking back,
wishing we had paid closer attention.