Boy in a shiny gray suit  *

Eighth grade graduation, June 1964, Riverside Public School , London Ontario

 

There was hormonal misfiring,

Storm clouds of anguish were gathering,

And cluelessness to boot.

Suffering and torture,

Searching and pure horror,

In the world of the shiny gray suit.

 

Popularity was dominant;

Party invitations, so prominent;

About grades, no one gave the slightest hoot.

Physical appearance

Was the sole form of clearance

In the world of the shiny gray suit.

 

Parents were proud of their graduates,

Who were forced to wear amulets,

Stuffed into clothing, and told to be cute.

But jealousy and competition

Made up the default position

In the world of the shiny gray suit.

 

Many are long since departed;

Others barely got started;

Their demise came before they took root.

They were lambs to the slaughter,

Or clay in the hands of a malevolent potter,

Including the boy in the shiny gray suit.

 

*Front row, seated, second on the right

 

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Your friend,

Robert