for Veterans' Day

Valedictorian

by Phyllis McGinley

Stand up, young man with the pink and earnest face,

Tonight grown paler.

The crease of your new flannels pinch into place,

Tug at your collar.

The Principal, beaming parentward, has left the stand,

Having given his Message, complete with whimsical comment,

Stand up, my boy. Clutch the notes tight in your hand.

This is the eloquent moment.

On behalf of the Class, for yourself, for the monitors with their badges,

You have much to say.

Make the good-bys, make the promises and the pledges,

Map out the way.

Never farewells like yours were spoken before,

Against this shabby and familiar curtain,

Never was any future so naked and sure,

Or any path so certain.

There was always in other years a sound that was hollow

To the adolescent vow.

There were always the climbers and those who could not follow,

You will march together now.

One flashing destiny awaits you all:

Neither the job at the mill (or the drugstore counter)

Nor the wide campus colored with the fall

Nor the poolroom's banter.

There will be none left idling at the gate,

No prizes for the bolder,

But only the rifle resting its equal weight

On every shoulder. 

So stand up, boy, forgetting the Golden Fleece.

Step up to the rostrum, bow, and speak your piece.

There were never farewells spoken so stoutly here

Nor a path that showed so clear.