A Graduation Confession (A Poem)

By Joyce Jacobo

[Author’s Note: Another true story from when my brother graduated from undergraduate school. All I can say is that the world is filled with amazing coincidences. Still, I’m blown away that a gentleman whom I had never met before would share such a sweet story with me.]

I was at the graduation ceremony for my brother

                that took place on a track & field at the university

                and rows of metal chairs stood before a grand stage

Behind a guardrail I waited among the gathered throng

                for my brother to make his entrance in a long line

                of black-robed graduates headed for their hallowed seats

Pomp and Circumstance played like a divine chorus

                as the people we had come to see made their appearance

                each group behind a banner for the appropriate department

I watched for Psychology with my camera at the ready

                when the graduate who held the banner for Liberal Arts

                looked in my direction and waved his sign in wild glee

“He transferred from a college where no one believed in him,”

                a gray-haired man who stood next to me rasped

                Tears glittered in his eyes amid the morning sunshine

“His mother passed away hopeful he would earn a degree

                She would have blessed the supportive people here

                and I know she is watching her son with great pride now.”

I will never know the exact reason why the gray-haired man

                chose to entrust me with such a precious confession

                Perhaps he just needed an ear into which to whisper his joy

Wherever the gray-haired man and the graduate have ventured

                I wish them the best from one life traveler to another

                while I marvel at miracles encouragement can perform.

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