A Sequence of Iambs for Graduation Night

Mack Hall

A Sequence of Iambs for Graduation Night

A few clumsy iambs are not enough

To thank you for the blessings you have been;

Poetic meter always cuts up rough,

Even when shaped by old, Keats-haunted men.

But please accept this poor attempt at praise

In gratitude for all your gifts of grace:
Your dreams made spring of rainy autumn days,
Sang summer to grey winter’s cold, bleak face.

But now that spring is really, truly here,
And summer waits impatiently for you,
This night closes your final childhood year:
Go build your lives with meaning, just and true.

The crowd awaits; adjust your cap just so --
And now it’s time; you really have to go.