Before I go any further let me confess outright that I am cheating this week. The photo and poem below may be familiar to a few of you because I posted it at my blog in August 2009. I'm sorry for cheating, Karen, and I hope you won't kick me off the bus. It's just that this poem says everything I ever wanted to say about high school. It also happens to be one of only two poems I ever had published out there in the big world that they said we got the golden key to in those graduation speeches.
The Reunion
Our colors whipped red and white,
the married assistant coach
preferred high school virgins,
chili dripped from an exit sign
in the cafeteria
after the food fight
and I was a chrysalis
plotting escape.
Pompon mothers will be there
cheering "yuppie" in place of
"yipp-ee"
ten years later
and paunchy jocks,
punting questions about divorce,
will guzzle scotch instead of beer.
They'll forget that their
most-likely-to-succeed
stoned on acid
killed his twin brother
the star quarterback
caught a grenade
in Vietnam
the girl who won best body
vanished after the pomp,
and circumstance produced
a butterfly.
© MLydiaM
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