Commencement Day

Yesterday the streets were filled with slow-
moving traffic. It inched up the boulevard,

snaked around the side of the stadium,
clogged the entrances to our quiet

residential streets. Streams of people
headed into the labyrinth of ceremony—

this one called commencement, which means 
both the end and the beginning. Whoever  

makes speeches invoking sacrifice 
and the future or that ubiquitous word

journey while covering up their own
corruption, should just shut up. 

Let the trees give the valedictory 
and the billows confer their tasselled caps.

Let the noon heat gild the heads of those
who've labored bravely, even with no prior

guarantee of reward. Let the procession 
of bodies shimmer like a promise 

that kindness and comradeship will keep 
rising up like wildflowers in the fields.