For this final installment of Poet’s Pen, we are featuring an original work in limerick format dedicated to the graduating Class of 2021. With all the postponements, rearrangements, and hybrid hullabaloo thanks to the pandemic, our senior year has been nothing less than a circus, including a grand finale under a giant tent! This poem captures the spirit of our class: enthusiastic as clapping seals, flexible as acrobatic monkeys, chaotic as a crowd of clowns, and ready to launch headfirst from a cannon to make our unique mark in the great, wide world.

To Poet’s Pen followers: thanks for reading. Poetry is something I hold dear to my heart and I’m glad I was able to share it with you. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these features as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them!

The Circus Is Leaving Town

High school life is a circus

A place where you might find your purpose

Some people shoot grand

Some stick to the stands

The virtual view hardly scratches the surface

Juggling clubs, events, and APs

It can be hard to hang onto the trapeze

Now with four years accrued

The lion is subdued

And I look back, like a sailor overseas

There will be no time in our lives quite like this

There are too many things that I’ll miss

When we’ve gone and grown old

Little memories like gold

So for posterity, I’ll read off my list:

There is nothing quite like the crack of dawn

Rolling out of bed to pull a wrinkled dress on

“Is the traffic okay?”

“No-uniform day?”

Stumbling out the door stifling a yawn

There is nothing quite like the hellos

Hallway chatter as crowds come and go

Gossip stopped abrupt

When the bell interrupts

The squeak of saddle shoes everyone knows

There is nothing quite like the dining hall scene

Chairs scuffing floors that are never quite clean

Catching a friend’s eye

Only to steal half their fries

Amid the laughing clamor of ravenous teens

There is nothing quite like the scares:

Taking a test when you didn’t prepare

Cramming under a crunch

Or forgetting your lunch

Losing your blazer heaven-knows-where

There is nothing quite like the good times

Filling the vending machine with dimes

Performing concerts and plays

Winning the big game, hooray!

Heading home with friends side-by-side

Truly, there are too many thanks to say:

To teachers and coaches who guided the way

To those who taught us we can

And to good Mr. Dan

And to parents who for us do pray

Closing words from the class of yellow and blue:

Savor each moment like a fine French stew

This year has been rough,

But stay strong! Remain tough!

Make the most of this show before saying adieu

These past four years seemed to fly

The circus of a lifetime gone by

Now it’s time to go away,

I speak for many when I say,

We bid you a bittersweet goodbye.