defining youth

i remember my mother telling me
"enjoy being young, you'll miss it when its gone."
so i resolved to never grow up.
time has passed
and looking back at
old words,
ex-lovers,
scars,
laugh lines,
and tombstones
i realize that loss of youth is inevitable
and loss of innocence
occurred long before
i realized what it was
not unlike
a family friend
you saw once or twice
when you were little
only to find
an obituary in the paper.
i sip my coffee
and salute my youth
while i sit with my foolishness
passing it a drag from a burning cigarette.
we too parted ways
before I even knew
how to say goodbye.