To My Advisees, Class of 2006

Please see my previous post for ways to contribute to the relief of victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The following verse was written on the spur of the moment one early morning at camp.


To My Advisees, Class of 2006


Each weekday morning I advise
Some fourteen students, whose bright eyes
Seem to ignore the graybeard there
Whose dumb computer holds his stare
Till he records their presence. Then,
Taking in hand papers and pen,
He reads a verse from Psalms and tries
His sleepy charges to apprise
Of duties, schedules, meetings—facts
Meant to compose their full day’s acts—
Bids them Godspeed to face the day
That hurries them too soon away.

The days pile up until all meet
With peers upon Senior Retreat
To join in festive bonding where
Heat, hills, stars, sunscreen, and clear air
Combine with hearts to celebrate
The last year of their shared estate,
While their advisor, in weak rhyme,
Tries to articulate how time
That brings these dear souls to his ken
Will spirit them too soon away again.