prom night

"I'd throw myself into the river, but it always looks like rain."

you can always tell it's prom night.
black jackets and bow ties, boys all in uniform
line up like soldiers to get their souls stolen by cameras;
a flash of light and a snapshot of night.
the boys try to be unique, when tuxes are fairly ordinary
and everyone is wearing sunglasses.

you can always tell it's prom night.
the girls, never quite ready, stumble toward the limo
in their stilletos which they're sure to take off
in twenty minutes. flowers never in the right place,
dresses never different enough,
jewlery never dazzling enough;
no one ever
good enough.

you can always tell it's prom night.
mothers crowd around their kids in outfits that cost
more than their education.
the timid fathers stand impatiently,
waiting for the onslaught of pictures to end.
pictures that in three years will be memories
locked in drawers.

you can always tell it's prom night.
the emotionless music coming out of the headphones;
it's a good night to be alone anyway.
words come out like molasses
slur like honey and end in milk and flour in a bowl
pouring all over my lap and onto the floor.

you can always tell it's prom night.

Reviews

[Kayleigh]

Beautifuly written! :]
I haven't been to prom yet, but I can tell, you definitly portrayed what a prom night would be like. :)
Well done!!!

[Hannah Jane]

Oh wow! I really enjoyed this. Nice..I think you really captured something.

[[untitled]]

I liked this. The first stanza was a little choppy. I liked how you repeated the first line. I could see the girls stumbling around. Oh, I forgot, I was once one of them!! Great poem.

[ashley]

YOU'VE NEVER EVEN BEEN TO PROM

but besides that, the first stanza really, really does not work...
i'm not feeling the repetition at the beginning of every stanza, either
replace 'different,' it feels too out of place and ordinary

i would just leave it up to mystery (except for the fact that you blatantly titled it) and only state how you can always tell its prom night at the end

[Miles Colella]

hey, this was pretty good. At first i wasn't sure, wasnt a big fan of the first stanza, but it picked up in the second with the image of the girls stumbling about and "no one ever good enough". Overall, I enjoyed the poem and thought it was a realistic portrayal of prom night.