Graduation

I wonder if time will stop

In that brief moment

When my cap

is suspended in the air

Floating higher

Lifted by the wind

Reaching out to

The sky

I wonder what

Memories will flash

Through my mind

In that instant:

Of joy? Of

Nostalgia? Of 

Camaraderie?

Will I think back

To those long, tiresome

Nights illuminated by

The low glow of a

Computer screen

Or fragmented

Flashbacks of the

dim, trancelike haze

of stupor filled with unabashed

Laughter and dancing

Under the welcoming

anonymity of darkness.

Will I recount

All the “lasts”

I never realized had

Already passed.

The last time dreading

My alarm, then rushing

Out the door only to

Be inevitably late,

The last glance up at

The clock as the

Final bell drew near,

The last bus ride

After a rare victory

With booming bass

And loud cheers

Rattling the seats,

And the last of the

Silent ones, too,

Where the same

Seats rocked us

To weary sleep.

Will my eyes well and

Blur as they always tend

To do upon the realization

That the final act is too soon…

I don’t know what I’ll think

When the final page

Of this chapter is upon me

I’m unsure of what I’ll feel

As my cap ascends

Over the crowd filled

With my peers.

Perhaps my eyes will

Blur one final time,

Maybe I’ll feel relieved,

And happy,

And sad,

And grateful.

All I know is

I don’t think I would mind

If my cap didn’t float back down.