Ten years from now we’ll look back on this day
And dim will be our memories of pain
Or glories that we’ve conquered in the fray
Forgetting toils that brought us to this gain
The wings of angels sweep these years away
And burned by time our eyes will not retain
The hands that held us up when we were young
And to that innocence we have not clung
© Jilly's 5/25/2017 All Rights Reserved
Dedicated to the class of 2017
We are writing Ottava Rima over at dVerse - join us!
The opening line was heard as I walked across
campus today.
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Jilly's 
Nice graduation poem! It is good not to cling to the innocence of youth, but I didn’t think of it that way until reading your poem. Nice rhyme and meter!
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Thanks! Good or bad – could argue either way 🙂
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A wonderful graduation poem, Jilly! Three or four years ago I wrote a sonnet for a leavers’ day assembly and at the time I thought how much I would have liked a teacher to write a poem when my class left school.
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Trouble is, my seniors actually graducated last night. I’ll have to plan this for next year.
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😊
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Love this, and I think when looking back we will see more the happiness than the pain… a great graduation day poem
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I once heard, if you’re worried about something, think if you will still be worried about it a year from now. If the answer is no, you’re wasting your time in worry! Good advice. Perhaps it will work on a ten year scale! Great write!
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Thanks! Actually, that was my Mom’s frequent advice.
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Ah, Jill, the depth of the truth contained in this poem is paled by the artistry with which it is said! Bravo!
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Thanks for stopping by, Charley!
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i love the reflections you have written here, the struggles all forgotten on this joyous occasion, the pain seen as triumph’s pearls.
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Thanks! Not sure whose pain is greater; theirs or mine! HAHA! 150 of my birds flew off last night.
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I do believe as a teacher you bond with the students and seeing them develop, grow and become decent people makes your heart swell and ache to see them leave the safety of the school and go out into the world.
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Indeed, ’tis true.
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Very nice! The last two lines remind me of when I encounter a miserable ogre of a person and wonder “How were you a baby?” How people change and never stop changing amazes me.
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HA HA! How true!
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I graduated first in my class from community college (AA) but the ceremony was a month after the last class. I was working, in a new routine. & went to a movie the grad night; forget all about it. I called home after the movie, & my folks told me about it. I drive 100 mph to get there, and walked out after Zimbrowski; smile
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Great story!
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This poem contains such universal sentiments, it could be applied to so many things! I didn’t read ‘graduation day’ into it even though I know that’s what it’s about, probably because I’ve never been to one (not even my own), but it works for all those stages in life that we can look back on and possibly not remember all the faces that surrounded us, or the happiness we shared with them.
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It didn’t start in my head as a graduation day poem, but that is what came out. There is something in human nature that causes us to forget some of the milestones moments; they become blurry. Thanks for reading, Jane!
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That’s why people take so many photos and films, I suppose. I’m not sure that they convey much of a particular moment though. Nothing posed has much sense.
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Beautiful poem! So relatable!!
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Ah, then it was successful. 🙂 I enjoy it when poetry strikes a universal chord. Glad you stopped by!
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It was my pleasure!
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Have you started to celebrate graduation yet? Our students have their last day today. I heard a parent tell their child not to study too hard, lol. I’ll bet a lot of your students are grateful guidance.
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Here in Orlando, our seniors were finished with classes last week and graduation was a couple of days ago. The underclassmen are wrapping up next week. We teachers are wilting like last weeks flowers 🙂
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Nice rhyme and meter, as Frank said. 🙂
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