Thursday, June 1, 2023

RSVP Please


By Mary E. Adair

I had a very stirring dream--
A Class Party Invitation as its theme
With a list of questions needing an answer
Such as "Are you a "Gamer"(?) or a "Dancer"(?)
Urgently inquiring "What"(?) I do choose
It seemed important to state my views
Do you want "Formal"(?) or a "Trek in Sand Dunes"(?)
Some place "Modern"(?) or "Ghostly Ruins"(?)
Do you prefer the period set for "Now"(?)
Or to be staged in the "Past"(?) somehow
Dressed in "City Business Clothes"(?)
Or simply wear "Jeans and holes in those"(?)
The food's to be tasty and easy to choose
States it's copied from magazine views
Perhaps will be set in some "Future"(?) choice
Shall it be "Quiet"(?) or have lots of "Noise"(?)
Feeling nostalgic, I underlined "Back Then"
Trusting to chance exactly which "When"(?)
I finished my answers all through the List
And suddenly I seemed to be cloaked in a Mist
Then bright twinkling lights brightened my view
And The Party was starting without more ado.
I saw strolling couples of High School age
And realized I too was at that stage
We were all awkward, giggly, young--
As if from school rooms we'd just been sprung
I recognized classmates' smiling faces
Of Oldsters among us -- no traces
With a sense of freedom from worry or care
A feeling of Happiness we seemed to share
It all felt so very healthy and real
That no hint of sadness did I feel
Within a daze of Merriment shared
Everyone was there for whom I cared
So wonderful a Party I could only smile
And it really seemed to last quite a while
Then into my hearing came that tune
We always sang when we had to go soon
"Three o'Clock in the morning" we would hum
Until right up to our doorway we'd come
And still names of those I had met
Tumbled in my mind to not forget
"The Party's Over" announced my mind
And daylight shining in my face, I find
Then "Only a Dream," I thought so sadly,
For dreams can show what we want badly,
And have not even a glimmer of Truth,
For many I'd seen, had passed in their Youth.
But I'll cherish those faces seen in my sleep,
And treasure those memories I'll always keep.


© May 15, 2023 Mary E. Adair 

(Dedicated to my fellow Monahans High School exes.)


Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.


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