High School Graduate’s Ode
(translation|modification of Oda del Graduando)
by Luis S. González-Acevedo
Graduation is delightful,
challenging us to continue,
highlighting admiration
and love for our second home.
Second home –our school,
foundation of our intelligence.
You instilled wisdom
with the gift of efficiency.
You sustained us through life’s theater
by providing education;
yet the play has not concluded
because the curtain has not fallen.
The “play” is the life
that each of us lives;
“not concluded” is the measure
of wisdom to be acquired.
We thank you for being ours,
for our pride and emotion,
for guiding us on the path
toward graduation.
With every first-year class that enters,
there are also sad farewells.
Graduates proclaiming “Yes!
Our triumphs and lives are yours.”
Your work is done.
You’ll always be our sun,
because you prepared us
and demanded the best.
Our motto is profound,
displaying nobly in our thoughts:
“In pursuit of success,
In pursuit of victory!”
–You can find the poem in Caribbean Poet, by Luis S. González-Acevedo or the original version in Spanish in Poemas Caribeños, por Luis S. González-Acevedo–
