Read the Prereading information on page 618. Then think about both titles. What do you think the poems will be about? Write down as many ideas as you can think of.
Find a partner and read each poem aloud. Which of your predictions about the poems were accurate?
If your group is having difficulty reading the poems aloud, try visualizing the images as you read. Focus on one poem at a time, with one person reading the poem and the other listening. Then switch roles. After you have listened to both poems several times, write down what kind of mood the words create.
With a partner, compare your predictions about the poem to what the poems actually said. Discuss how the poems make readers feel, and write a summary of how each speaker feels about saying good-bye.