Ghosts of Homecoming Past

A poem on teens missing out in 2020

Original photo by Alice Alinari on Unsplash

The high school gym waits dark
Ghosts of Homecoming past
Parade their processional dance
Waltz by lockers through corridors, they
Smile and
Smile
They cheer
They chant

Walls gossip ethereal memories
Of balloons floating, signs hanging
And strobe lights flashing
The music silently plays again
Boom and
Boom
The beat
Repeats

New queen of 2020
Still all flesh and blood
No subjects are in sight
She holds her tiara in her hands
Moans and
Moans
Alone
At home

Someday she’ll be a ghost
Of a Homecoming past that wasn’t
Royal without a land
Her coronation has been banned
Masks and
Masks
Virus
Crisis