Bring On Graduation Poem by Jesse Tampa

Tomorrow is the day that I will dress up in red
Inside my head are thoughts of great dread
Sure for the past four years I've been going strong
Now lately I seem to barely be getting along

It is going to be difficult to get across that stage
I even experience an amount of small rage
Because unlike others I will have a bit of trouble
I feel uncomfortable when I step outside my bubble

I will be surrounded by friends but by strangers too
I think this is why I feel anxious about what I have to do
Nevertheless I have backup from family and friends
So I should try to stay positive and start a new trend

I should find inside myself some confidence and conjure it quick
I don't want to be stuck somewhere like some kind of stick
I want to be happily able to walk across freely and well
With no thoughts of anxiety or a panicky hell

I want to experience a good time like I did at the practice run
So I will put on my gown and cap and try to have some fun
I will be sitting right next to my friend since middle school
I will be sedated and maybe acting a bit like a fool

With my entire family watching, I want them all to be proud
Even if I do have to walk in front of a very large crowd
I should not be afraid and I should not be frightened
When I get my diploma I will be enlightened

I have the support and the tools that I need
I have air in my lungs and the will to succeed
I have passion in my writing and I have a good brain
My mental health is perfectly sane

I ask God to help me to not be so nervous tomorrow
I ask him to help me feel joy and not sorrow
I don't want to panic or be filled with fear
I want to be thinking, my head to be clear

I want to accept my honor and proceed off the stage
Have my picture taken like everyone else my age
I want them to know who I am and to see whom I will become
A person who is stronger and who is a someone

I have my brothers to back me up, my sister to cheer me on
I have my mother to see me, and be proud of what I've done
My dad will be there, and I am sure that he will say 'That's my boy'
He won't be ashamed of me; he will be filled with joy

I accept a piece of paper that acknowledges my accomplishment
Thirteen years of public school, I turned out a fine young Gent
I am a great writer is what I know, and I will continue to write
One day I will wake up and I will live without any fright

God keeps me under his safety and under his protection
I ask for strength when I lack it upon inspection
I will wake up that day and make sure I am in good spirit
It will be like a dream world, now that I’m near it

I want my friends to be happy for me, and for them to rejoice
I want to breathe easy, and to be able to speak with a voice
If anything I have to say, I want to be heard
I want to be free like a flying kite, or like a free bird

Graduation is what has got my nerves so much in tension
If I meditate, than maybe I won’t be so quick to apprehension
For panic or anxiety are enemies of my body and my mind
I should pray for help in leaving those things behind

I want to just have a good day filled with good things
I want to graduate with my 2007 Amethyst ring
I will sit and remain calm and I will try to relax
This is the only way for me to not have an attack

When I am walking I will use positive self-talk
To keep me upright and as strong as a rock
I will sit down and listen to what my peers have to say
Than we will all get our papers before we have to go away

It will be the last time that we will all be at the same place at the same time
We should cherish that one moment and keep it relevant, no crime
To be very much in tune with what has got to be done
Not a chore something easy like unloading a gun

We have bright futures all lined up and ahead of ourselves
We put our papers into picture frames or onto shelves
We show them to people and tell them we’ve got them
They pay us more money, even though taxpayers bought em’

We all put in our time and we all put in hard work
We all read our books and wrote our stories like jerks
In the end however this is what we have to show for it
A day in the life, and a poem honoring how it fits