high school graduation poems

A quick and easy guide.

1. Poems should be read more often at high school graduation.

2. Poems written by the speaker should never be read, unless the speaker is Maya Angelou.

3. Poems that do not rhyme should be chosen above poems that do. Poems that rhyme in iambic pentameter, though, should be chosen above all other poems. Villanelles, in particular, make excellent selections.

4. Poems explicitly about high school graduation are forbidden.

5. Oh, The Places You'll Go! is anathema, and all who read it are consigned to the darkest, hottest corner of hell.

Update: 6. More hints, tips, and rules here.


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