December 16, 2010:  Middle School Concert

It's a Christmas Orchestra show
That sets me scribbling the below:
Several talented maestros
Standing out amid squeaks and squeals,
Sweating sixth-graders, clip-on ties,
Black pressed pants, worn tennis shoes,
Trying their hardest to blend in,
Except the hyper kid, stage right,
Violin on lap, finger in nose,
Plain sight of his reddening mom.

Meanwhile, center stage, underpaid,
Stands the man, calm and directed,
Finding the un-tuned cello,
Shoveling fallen sheet music
Onto the music stands swaying
To and from as the boys jostle
The girls who brandish their bows in
Anticipation of teacher's
Faint nod, the signal to begin
Filling the gym with "Jingle Bells."

Here I hang back in the last row
With no digital camera
Nor upraised cell phone video.
I ponder the phenomenon
Called the middle school concert,
As if a metaphor for life.