prom night 2008
my daughter is ready to go
she looks beautiful

she better
that damn dress
cost almost five hundred dollars

i tell her
there is something i want to say
before she leaves

she rolls her eyes
in that way
that only 18 year old girls can do

because
she thinks
i am going to wax poetic

i'm not
poetry is about metaphors and allusions
this is straight talk

i tell her
a lot of things are going to happen tonight
lives will change

there will be
make ups and break ups
and at least one girl will end up knocked up

because
she's so naive that she believes him
when he says you can't get pregnant the first time

i thought about
how i blame the parents for that
as i handed my daughter a condom

there's going to be
broken heels and broken hearts
that might ruin the moment but won't ruin a life

i'm keeping the phone with me all night
there'll be no questions if you call for a ride
not a word about the alcohol on your breath

i don't care what you do
as long as it isn't anything
that starts out fun

and ends
on the dedication page
of the yearbook of the class of 2009