Happy faces, sad eyes, tears in a few
Hip huggers, pedal pushers, some with no shoes.
Tattered jeans, tailored suits, dressed for comfort or class
Girls with new makeup — wearing out the looking glass.
These are the styles, these are the faces
Of junior high students, busy going places.
Eager to learn, eager to please — young minds ripe for molding
Learning to challenge a world that is theirs for the holding.
All too soon, all too fast, they reach that magic day
When school is out, youth is gone and life has gone its way,
And they’ll look back with wonder upon those golden years.
Now, with mist filled eyes, I realize — I ONCE WAS HERE!
© 2000, David B. McCurley