third grade performance

an elementary school auditorium
musty from school-day sweat
is still welcoming to beaming Parents
and younger brothers and sisters
(though the older siblings seem to
just tolerate returning to where
they've already moved on beyond)

they take the stage ~ nervous, yet
confident from the brief rehearsal
earlier in the day.

the Show won't garner any tonys
or oscars ~ or even attention
beyond family pride,
and photos on the basement wall
we now know as facebook

but they perform well ~ for some
the first taste of public notoriety,
and for others the chance to again
center the room's attention on themselves

and for all, a chance to Grow,
to explore themselves, and a memory
to recall on the day when they,
from plastic audience chairs
will themselves beam with pride on
another third grade generation