The Graduates

 

Good with Words

They are all very good with words.

They can all turn a phrase

Or a blind eye.

Theirs is the maistrie

Of Trivium and Quadrivium,

Of Pavlovian encomiums,
Chekhovian equilibrium.

They all will recall

How to troll and how to

Trawl, post a meme,
Go mainstream, 
Scream and brawl.

They all will recall

What and when and

Where to call

Teammates and ingrates,

Intimates and confederates,

Inveterate shoppers,

Veteran hip-hoppers,

Crude eye-poppers,

Shrewd name-droppers,

Come-a-croppers,

Day-trip-toppers,

Stroppy stroppers,
Sharp show-stoppers.

They all will recollect

Every which way to connect

And when connection’s fun

Is done

How and why to

Say good-bye to

Gollum and his

Solemn hoard

Blessed by water

And the Word;

Dark backstairs,

Bootless cares,

Cakes in layers,

Chocolate squares,

Dour naysayers,

Over-stayers,

Morganatic mayors,

Dragon slayers,

Lax tax-payers,

Cack-handed players,

Eleventh-hour prayers,

Brand-New-Day-ers.

They never will forget

How to knit and

Walk a poodle,

Where to spit

And when to doodle;

When to quit

Toting kit ’n caboodle,

When to remit

Bonafide brass,

How to quit

Smoking grass,

Hauling ass,

Cutting class,

Talking crass.

They are all very good at numbers,

Mixing umbers, counting tumblers,
Hydrating summer's
Mad-dog runners
Gyrating in snowfall
Light as slumber
Of fugitive angel wings
Asunder.

They will never forget

When to sit

Stand and kneel,

How to spin

Fortune’s wheel;

When to extract

Impacted molars,

When to contact

Ace-in-the-holers,

And how react to

Bi bi-polars.

They all will know

How far to go

To seal a bond

With a friend who’s fond.

Just so, every one will know

In the future: fast or slow,

How to formulate bold initiatives

Give out, give it up, give back what gives;

How to parry a social sanction

And carry the weight of an indentured nation;

How to evade the conditions of perdition,

And how not to bother

With the sins of the fathers;

How to heal a miscarriage of justice,

How to make the foreigners trust us;

To marry with documentation proactive,

To bury the dead with rites interactive.

Resolved online to interact they will remember

To redact all follies from digital regard.

They all will recall to password protect memoirs,

To stack fine linens in antique armoires ––

Guardians of the secret (of smell, of touch)

Guardians of sensation, of elation quite as much:

Of memory in the fingertips, of nature’s day school:

Of fabric that’s vanilla-smooth, old cloth that’s silky fine

Refreshed with sprigs of lavender, sachets of mint and thyme:

Old cloth that ripples like water flowing under ground,

Coursing beneath the hands, making no sound.

Take it as soon as you find it; first

Drink in small draughts to calm your thirst;

Then drink deep and drink your fill

Of the dark cold water deep in the cool well:

Only your silence can retrieve it –

For who in the measured world would believe it?

Impression holding memory that eludes detection,

Evades collection and inspection,

Avoids collation, allocation,

Designation, registration;

Memory never to be coded,

Encrypted, scripted,

Up- or downloaded,

Tagged or tracked,

Backed-up or hacked;

Memory embedded in sensation

Too down-to-earth for captivation,

Too integral for integers,

Too mutable for messengers,

Too unassuming for captation,

Too fugitive for digitization;

Somnolent experience

Awaiting awakening,

Latent nascent sunrise

Wrapped in time-release surmise.

Back in the Great World

Where the Cities burn bright

Up and down the country

From morning till night,

Walking, crossing

Striding, pacing,

Occupying, gracing

Stage after stage:

A generation comes of age.

They who shall know

How to enact

Binding pacts,

Negotiate contracts,

Mediate contacts;

React to associates,

Contact initiates;

Remediate successors,

Repudiate confessors;

Take possession,

End a session,

Make an impression,

Joke about secession;

Joke about anatomy,

Wish for autonomy;

Critique astrology,

Study astronomy;

Chasten hypocrisy,

Spread democracy;

Quantify equality,

Qualify meritocracy;

Oppose theocracy,

Impose autocracy;

Disclose iniquity,

Presuppose ubiquity;

Conciliate familiars,

Placate ambassadors;

Excoriate war,

Fund Defense;

Wish for more,

Use common sense,

Gain maturity,

Expand Homeland Security;

Stand and report,

Contrive a retort;

Play a sport,

Pack the court;

Humbug conservatives,

Bundle derivatives;

Capitalize enterprise,

Synthesize paradise;

Design a phone,

Take out a loan;

Protect dissent,

Pay the rent.

Come September

They’ll remember

How to talk to one man

One way

And another,

Another.

How to write a résumé

And how to write a cover.

They are literate and numerate,

Considerate and humorous,

Luminous and numinous,

In debt and impecunious.

We have tutored them and taught them,

Over-wrought them and besought them

To drive our cars and read our books,

Patronize our bars and date our looks.

We have fought for them and bought for them

Tickets to the feast.

We have helped them to illuminate

The ways of man and beast,

We have let them practice being human

Twenty years at least.

Observing, unswerving, our works and days,

Resolved to play it as it lays,

They have learned our antique folkways:

Time’s well-trodden golden pathways:

What words should be capitalized,

When to pause with lowered eyes,

How to write a thank you note,

How to keep your boat afloat,

How to write a topic sentence,

How to make a graceful entrance,

How to walk with proper carriage,

How to leave a room or marriage.

Theirs is the kingdom

To rule behind doors

And succor whomever they will.

Theirs the power

Of intervention and detention,

Of intercession and goodwill.

Theirs the glory

Of the neverending story,

The well of notions and emotions,

Oceans of fairytales and timeless sagas

Telling of Fools and Princes, of Firebirds

And Baba Yagas.

Theirs the forever

Of stories bold and clever,

Tales of adventure and surprise,

To widen with wonder a young girl’s eyes.

They every one can strum a lute,

Play a flute or flay a brute.

They are Finished.

They are all very good with words.