Even if only until tomorrow

or even until next weekend

it never gets

easier.

You learn to cherish moments,

memories, time.

In the blink of an eye

they leave.

To go home after curfew

or off to college

or overseas for their civic duty,

They're gone.

The joy of "hello" precedes

the pain of "goodbye".

You don't know what you've got until it's gone,

they say.

The shadow of the future

looms over us because

until now it hasn't ever been

"goodbye".

It's an "I'll see you later."