Harmony for Sebastian
and the class of 2024
when I was your age
(and how often have you heard that)
there were no wild aunties
no saint stupids
no houseboats
no homemade entertainment
no option to excel outside
the prescribed limits of textbooks
no outdoor campus to find
a way in between
trampolines and clique conformity
straight lines and bubble tests
the world appeared to be going to hell then too
but not like today
perhaps both worse and better
the future, much like history,
repeats itself
dots connect in hindsight
so as you move forward
trust that your path
will make music and shape songs
those meandering roads and wide open vistas
will focus into a horizon of understanding
because by trusting in something
—your gut feeling, life, destiny, this poem—
you discover many meanings
in the chorus of your dreams
in the melody of your life
look for them
play them
strum them
become them
nurture yourself with love
you can relish in the fact
that there is no more required curriculum
everything from now on
is an elective
the passageways infinitely wind
before you
just like the expansive chords
that connect you
to the rest of the world
high school is something you complete
life is something you experience
every moment builds upon the next
there are no grades
just results
of course your journey isn’t
something I can tell you about
neither can anyone else
only you can decide
which way to travel
pay attention to the way you feel
when you find the thing that powers you
makes time disappear
bounds you out of bed in the morning
gives you life and inspiration
the thing only you are supposed to do
the thing
only you can know
inside yourself
You are a poem writing yourself
into existence
everything in the world is about you
yet also about everything else
Make the poetry of you
a way of life
and shout it
shout it with your whole being
shout it out loud
into the silence of yourself
then sit
and listen
as your heart
resonates your song
and feel the ring
of yourself
reverberating into
being
Blake More, June 2024
