Dedicated to the William H. Russell High School Graduating Class of 1981.
Yesterday’s children, obscured from sight,
Burst up through time and into the light.
Stand amongst honor and take your bow.
Yesterday’s children have all grown up now.
Though years you’ve labored, toiled, and strained,
Year after year you faced it again.
So now you’re ready, stand up and cheer,
For now you’ve reached your final year.
Gone is your childhood, your happiest days.
You’re now prepared for life’s odd ways.
So stand and brave your finest hour,
Receive your diploma and take your flower.
Remember not your trials and tumults,
Look forward now; you are now young adults.
G. M. Lupo (ISNI: 0000 0005 0315 9196) is a native of Atlanta, Georgia where he has always had a dysfunctional relationship with his hometown. His most recent published work is the story collection Reconstruction (2020), part of his series of Atlanta Stories, which includes Fables of the New South (2017). Along with his novel, Rebecca, Too (2018), and his full-length play Another Mother, these constitute his Expanded Universe of Fictional Atlanta. He has also released a collection of essays, poetry, and stories entitled Words Words Words (2020).
He was the winner of the 2017 Essential Theatre Play Writing Award for Another Mother which had its world premiere in his home neighborhood of West End in August 2017, in the building that once housed the library where he learned to read as a child.
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