So Long to Youth Forever

Together we hit the teenage years,

Discovered music, joined rock-and-roll bands...

Practicing in cold garages, our dreams,

Hung on rusty old microphone stands.

We dipped our toes in the water,

That filled the pools of local fame...

Becoming Catholic school kids again,

When fans had forgotten our name.

I remember the Undersea Overgrowth,

And myself, the Shades of Sound...

Well into our professional lives,

Years after our feet touched the ground.

I read today, forty years later,

Obit details of your final ride...

I grieved for you when I realized,

Old friends split, but we never divide.

RIP: Steven Salady 2/26/12