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Montana High School Reunion
The big fella who grew up in Butte,
Claimed his high school sweetheart was so cute,
__Going back would be grand
__A reunion was planned
So he went out and bought costly boots.
He came thinking about his old lover,
But as soon as he got there discovered,
__It was raining quite hard
__There was mud by his car
And in minutes his new boots were covered.
He walked in with his eyes wide and stared,
But his long ago love was not there.
__She had been a no-show
__Changed her mind not to go
To see him clearly she had not cared.
He just stood there in all of his glory,
No old flame heard his life inventory.
__He was really depressed
__His fine boots were a mess,
And his wife laughs as she tells this story.
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Reconnection Surprise
I saw a guy I knew from junior high,
We reminisced an hour, or maybe more,
Nice memories were shared in fine supply,
As we had never talked that long before.
Of all that he recalled so poignantly,
What’s guaranteed to always most amaze,
Was how much more he’d clearly thought of me,
Than I thought of myself back in those days.
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Russel Winick recently started writing poetry after ending a long legal career. He resides in Naperville, Illinois.
Russel, I loved your high school reunion poems. I have written a couple of them that I read at subsequent high school reunions. Things really change in life between our time in high school and what we and others do and become in life.
Thank you Roy. I agree with your analysis. Reunions fascinate me. For many of those in attendance, their eyes may see the people as they are now, but you can tell that their minds still see the people as they were back then.
Very clever, both, with a surprise of quite the magnanimous wife in the first. Thank you for the help in reminiscing.
I love your comment JD – thank you for it. And you are right about that wife!
You made me laugh, Russel. Thanks for the fun!
I’m always delighted to have that impact, Cynthia. Thanks for letting me know.
Great stuff, Russel. I especially like the ending twist in the second poem. I’ve never felt the need or desire to attend a single reunion.
Thanks Cheryl. As someone who has organized a half dozen unofficial reunions for my grade school and junior high school classmates over the years, I’ve learned that many people have no interest in attending reunions. And there is some risk in going to them, as evidenced by the story covered in the poem below, which was told to me by a college friend:
REUNION DISILLUSION
Having spent a night together,
His fond memories like new,
He decided to discover
If her thoughts were pleasant too.
When he asked at a reunion,
She said: “Take no disrespect,
But the evening that you mention
I in no way recollect.”
Enjoyed your reunion poems. Humorous and fitting. I have written my share of high school reunion haiku, and for my fiftieth class reunion, I wrote a poem, which I read, mentioning all the members who had passed away over the years. I mixed memories along the way. ~Nan
Thank you Nancy. That sounds like quite a challenging poem which you wrote for your reunion.
Well, I kept editing it and editing up until I read it at the reunion. Unlike many of the poets here, I write free verse so it probably wouldn’t be welcomed here.
Nancy – I would love to read your reunion poem, if you’d care to share it ([email protected]). I write in free verse at times, particularly when I’m telling a longer story or relaying a conversation.
Russel
I’ll send it your way, Russel. ~Nan
Finally, sent it your way, Russel. As of yesterday, April 26. Apologies for being so late (you might want to check your spam folder). Nan
Alas, my old school got torn down, and although the there was an Old Abbotsdonians’ club back in the day, no reunions.
I enjoyed both poems, Russel, what with their neat endings.
I can’t help it, but every time I think of reunions, I think of the comedy film Gross Point Blank, where a hitman goes to his high school reunion to get over some unfinished romantic business.
Thanks for the reads.
Thanks Paul. I’m sorry that you don’t have the opportunity to go to a reunion for your old school.
I remember many of the persons who were my schoolmates, but I attended only one reunion in 1988 (for my college Class-of-’68 twentieth anniversary) at Fordham University.
When I was in Junior High, I had two friends in my class who later became celebrities. One was Dennis Elsas, who later became the well-known radio announcer and disk jockey who interviewed John Lennon in 1974. The other was Robert Wachtel (“Waddy” Wachtel), who became a famous composer, musician, and guitar accompanist to scores of major singers.
I’ve never met Dennis or Robert since our school days, when we were 12 or 13 years old. But I will always remember them as two of the nicest, kindest, and friendliest persons in our homeroom class.
I’m glad that my poems apparently got you thinking about your old schoolmates.
A nicely contrasting pair of poems, Russel, on crestfallen disappointment and pleasant surprise in reunion contexts. My own laziness and preoccupations with the present throughout my life have always distracted me from reunions, even though I was sought after and urged to attend my high school fiftieth. Now that I’ve finally come to value personal meetings more, probably as a result of our enforced isolations during the past few years, I’m making more effort to see friends and family members individually. In fact, the Society of Classical Poets is responsible for several satisfying get-togethers with fellow members, and another in the planning stages with a graduate school companion who discovered my whereabouts from a poem posted here!
Thank you Margaret. I’m glad that you are valuing and hopefully enjoying more personal meetings now.