This poem struck me because it touches on two things I've thought about high school:
1. Those days so far removed from the person I am now that they may as well have occurred in the Mesozoic Era.
2. There are white-hot memories I can call up in a matter of seconds.
Life, it seems, is a series of eras, periods, and ages that are constantly shifting, rearranging, being integrated, and viewed anew.
This is such a good poem, and the final line is a killer.
Written on the eve of my 20th high school reunion,
which I was not able to attend
by A.E. Stallings
For the Briarcliff High School class of 1986
Just what I needed,
Just when the dreams had almost totally receded,
The dreams of roles for which I learned no lines and knew no cues,
Dreams of pop quizzes with no pants on and no shoes,
Just when I understood I was no longer among
Those ephemeral immortals, the gauche and pitiable young,
Suddenly come phone calls, messages sift out of the air
To ask who will be there:
Names I haven't given a thought to in a score
(A score!) of years, and names I used to think about but don't much anymore,
And those I think of all the time and yet
Have lost somehow like keys to doors I've closed, and some I have tried to forget—
by A.E. Stallings
For the Briarcliff High School class of 1986
Just what I needed,
Just when the dreams had almost totally receded,
The dreams of roles for which I learned no lines and knew no cues,
Dreams of pop quizzes with no pants on and no shoes,
Just when I understood I was no longer among
Those ephemeral immortals, the gauche and pitiable young,
Suddenly come phone calls, messages sift out of the air
To ask who will be there:
Names I haven't given a thought to in a score
(A score!) of years, and names I used to think about but don't much anymore,
And those I think of all the time and yet
Have lost somehow like keys to doors I've closed, and some I have tried to forget—
....
Photo courtesy of elizabethaferry at Pixabay.
16 comments:
Thank you for this, Karen. I have a very close-knit group of high school friends who still, after more than 50 years, get together every 5 years. We have changed, some of us more than others, but can still find comfort in our shared experiences. But I agree - it does feel so, so long ago that it all happened.
Rose, what a gift to still be so close to that group of friends! I'm so glad you have that. I am still close to one friend and his wife; they have stayed in the town where we went to high school, and I've moved a few times. So, sometimes when they talk about people from "those days" (people they still see and interact with), I'm lost. "Who is that again??" :)
Love the poem--also the title! I did not attend my recent 50th HS reunion, (50 years ago? how is that possible) But once one person from my hometown found me on facebook, I sort-of reconnected with others, and could peek at the reunion through photos. So many who I could not recognize, but others whose images hurtled me back in time!
Buffy, I'm at the 48-years-post-high-school mark and I can't imagine going to a 50th in a couple of years. Partly due to the disbelief you expressed, which I share, lol! But also because I'm thinking that after fifty years, do people really want to go to those things?
Karen, I must admit that I am not a reunion-type of person. Yet, I still have friends that have become my framily. Thanks for this poem that reminds me of high school and college. I do agree on your line, "Life, it seems, is a series of eras, periods, and ages that are constantly shifting, rearranging, being integrated, and viewed anew." I am taking away this wonderful quote. Who knows how it will impact my life.
Even tho I still live in my hometown — in the same public school catchment area, even! — I never did manage to attend a reunion prior to becoming homebound. Ironic, given that now I *would* actually be interested in attending! Heh. Early in, it was just too close to it all **shudder** … The 1980s seem like such an incredibly long time ago — that's also the decade in which I first became a mother and how can it possibly be that many years ago!?
Wow, what a poem -- the tension between relief at having left high school behind and then being confronted with memories all of a sudden. Though I have several close friends from high school, I haven't attended any of my reunions, partly because I hate the long flight to Hawaii, but also because I think I've been psychologically trying to avoid drudging up less than positive memories. I do get a peek now and then of what old classmates are up to because of FB. While interesting, I'm not motivated to reconnect in person.
Karen, thanks for sharing this poem:) Love your intro., constantly shifting, rearranging, being integrated, and viewed anew... so true how we experience degrees of old and new feelings, depending on what the memory evokes. Oh the last line, yes, those formative years may feel so strongly to us!
Karen, thank you for the poem. It seems to cover universal questions/experiences of adults looking back at their adolescence. Even weird hair is probably something we all experienced, but the 80's had a special "ridiculous...high hubris of...hair." You are right about that last line--sadly, perhaps the most universal experience of all, shame.
Wow, Karen. That is some poem! I would nver go back to HS. I'm so glad I'm the person I am now and not the person I was then. Thanks for sharing this reflective piece. (1981 HS grad).
Perfect timing as I contemplate whether to attend my 50th high school reunion next month!
Karen, that poem perfectly captures all the feelings these reunions evoke. I went to my 40th, and the same cliques were in place, which brought back those teenage feelings of not belonging. My 50th is coming up next year, and I won't be going, but I must say, I do think of some of my old friends and wonder how life treated them.
Ouch. You're right about that last line! Also, this line resonates with me: "We carry with us the omnipresent and ever-changing now." I agree with your #1. Also, #2, but less so the further away from 1979 that I travel. It really was a different lifetime. It really IS a series of lifetimes. I love the NOW I'm in right now!
* Carol V., I'm so glad you found meaning in those words. ❤️
* elli, yes to "how can it possibly be that many years ago!?" Eeek! 😁 I became a mom in the 90s, in my 30s, and it's hard to believe all my daughters are grown now.
* Jama, this rang so true: "While interesting, I'm not motivated to reconnect in person." Yes to that, friend! And I understand the long flight being a deterrent. It would have to be for something far more important than a high school reunion!
* Jill, thanks! That last line packs an emotional punch, doesn't it?
* Denise, yes, it's sad how much shame sticks around, stays with so many. And yes, the hair! I was in my 20s in the 80s (a '78 grad) so I wasn't *as* sucked into the extremes of the ridiculously high hair ... But my hair was indeed *kinda* big in the 80s. 😆
* Carol L., I wouldn't go back either! Not for anything.
* Patricia, you'll have to let us know if you go! Whether you do or don't, I bet your thought process/experience will lead to a poem. ❤️
* Cathy, oh, ugh to cliques 40 years later! C'mon people, you can do better than that! Yes, skip the 50th and visit Poetry Friday friends instead. ❤️
* Mary Lee, that last line pounces, doesn't it? Yes, I agree about #2 lessening with every year ('78 grad here.) I love my NOW right now too! I wouldn't go back for anything. It makes me sad for people when they talk about high school being the best time of their lives. I mean ... WHAT?! 😁
Karen!!! This is such a powerful poem, and while I have attended some of my HS reunions, I agree with you so much about being "so far removed from that person", and at the same time able to summon up "white-hot memories" (wow, Karen, what a powerful sensory phrase!). I love how the poem conveys that, too...we are both far away and holding on to..something...Agreed! THAT FINAL LINE IS A KILLER!
Mona, I'm glad hit you so strongly too! What a poet she is — I'll definitely be looking for more of her work.
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