My son and a group of his friends, going out for prom night, all dressed in itchy tight clothing......one of the guys had never seen a pepper grinder, and instead of twisting the top half and the bottom half away from each other, he twisted the little metal top, causing the grinder to come apart and the top to fly across the room and land in another diner's dinner plate. The waitress sighed, rolled her eyes and said, 'I don't suppose anyone would care for mushrooms....'
Ah. Everyone from school has faded away and new folk have taken their place, but every now so often from the fog of memory nostalgia comes rolling like a gust that shakes you up as it passes by. This poem sent a flood of memories and I'm all shaken up!
It was our fiftieth. Such a nice gathering. Gathered at the table with my freak bros and their wives. Machinists. Comptrollers. Bankers and librarians. My how much we have evolved. Farmers and artists. Carpenters and actors. A family of mine.
We know it's getting to be spring when the couples all decked out for the senior prom start to appear in Missoula restaurants. She is wobbling on unfamiliar high heels, he is pulling at his neck, unaccustomed to wearing a dress shirt buttoned up to the very top or feeling strangled by a necktie. His tie or boutonniere might be the color of her dress. I always hope they know enough to tip decently.
I’ve really enjoyed your use of interesting line breaks in some recent poems. Very impactful. In this work, each couplet is a slow two step around the gym floor. Evokes all the teenage feels.
I didn't go to any of my proms nor did I attend a reunion. I know nothing of poetry but this put me right there, feeling that sweet, slow, luxurious yearning for what was.
My son and a group of his friends, going out for prom night, all dressed in itchy tight clothing......one of the guys had never seen a pepper grinder, and instead of twisting the top half and the bottom half away from each other, he twisted the little metal top, causing the grinder to come apart and the top to fly across the room and land in another diner's dinner plate. The waitress sighed, rolled her eyes and said, 'I don't suppose anyone would care for mushrooms....'
So real so lovely and I never had a high school reunion and didn't know any hs sweethearts yet I could relate to it.
Never went to school long enough to have a "sweetheart". Thanks for writing something to give me that experience and sip that ghostly nostalgia!
"everybody else is just sipping nostalgia from a plastic cup" Oh, how I loved this!!
"Funny how beautiful our scars become." That is so well said; it's one of those significant Sherman Alexie observations.
Thank you, Barb.
Ah. Everyone from school has faded away and new folk have taken their place, but every now so often from the fog of memory nostalgia comes rolling like a gust that shakes you up as it passes by. This poem sent a flood of memories and I'm all shaken up!
Captured it all❤️
Thanks, Barbara.
It was our fiftieth. Such a nice gathering. Gathered at the table with my freak bros and their wives. Machinists. Comptrollers. Bankers and librarians. My how much we have evolved. Farmers and artists. Carpenters and actors. A family of mine.
So many lives and years!
Love the ending … the most.
Thank you, Thomas.
Exactly!
We know it's getting to be spring when the couples all decked out for the senior prom start to appear in Missoula restaurants. She is wobbling on unfamiliar high heels, he is pulling at his neck, unaccustomed to wearing a dress shirt buttoned up to the very top or feeling strangled by a necktie. His tie or boutonniere might be the color of her dress. I always hope they know enough to tip decently.
Yes!
Life is such a learning process !!!
💖💖💖💖💖
Thank you, Rayna.
Oh the lucky ones that travel home to the one they love the most….
Sherman Alexie, your writing is so Heartbreakingly Lovely!!!
Thank you!! Thank you!!!
Thank you, Susan.
I’ve really enjoyed your use of interesting line breaks in some recent poems. Very impactful. In this work, each couplet is a slow two step around the gym floor. Evokes all the teenage feels.
Thank you, Merlou. My stanza break from "stragglers/linger" is meant to visually convey that sense of the stragglers hanging at the edge.
So evocative. Thanks for sharing your gift with us. ❤️✌🏻
Thank you, Elizabeth.
I didn't go to any of my proms nor did I attend a reunion. I know nothing of poetry but this put me right there, feeling that sweet, slow, luxurious yearning for what was.
Thank you, Yvonne. We all have young loves, I think!
🙏🏽
Thanks, Gary.