Graduation Poems

You took your last finals
and walked up to the gallows.

You got your final grades,
and the noose dropped.

You got the final balance of your loans
and the noose fit around your neck.

The dean shook your hand and gave you
a piece of paper
and the floor dropped out from under you.

The rope tightened
and you have succeeded.

The hat

The cardboard square spun in the air
with the tassel flying like a kite
pulled by a little boy
who is asked by his father:

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
The little boy smiles and says,

"A tiger"

and the hollowed graduation
hat
falls into the hands of the man
who now works with
exotic animals.

A success

Together we come together
to listen to the key

note speaker and be inspired
by his voice and his speech.
The parents, the friends, the

lost relatives who think back
when they were in those chairs
down there, and we all hold our
breath as the boys and girls

move the tassel from right
to left, and they blow the
tassel out of their face.

We yell.
We clap, and we cry.