Homecoming Queen

Homecoming Queen

She stood there
in her strappy high heels
a dress that looked like
cotton candy
birthday cake
a vast pink confection of
ruffles frills sequins

The wide smile on her face
The tiara perched on her laquered hair
The bare shoulders goosebumping
In the frigid October air

The football player she kisses
Is just there for ceremony
This is for her
And her crying mother
And her college boyfriend
Who looks on the proceedings
Bored from the sidelines
His arm candy will be back

You stand on the sidelines as well
Clicking away on the Rebel
For the school paper
Watching in black
Leggings
Sweater
Eyeliner
Boots
Hair
Necklace
And socks striped with red
Traditional getup for the school nerd
Preserving the moment
The crowning
The kiss
For a posterity that will have forgotten
By next year when she transfers the crown
To the next princess

She is the princess of the school
Princess of the dance
To which you weren’t asked
By anyone
Socially unacceptable
Socially dead
Impure in your black attire
For social interaction

Some of the teachers worry about you
Worry about your attitude
Worry about your ranting writings
Until they look at your grades
And realize that sociopaths
Usually don’t have straight A’s
Don’t have a shot at graduating at the top of the class

And then it hits them:
Will this be our valedictorian?
What will she say?
Will she show up?
Oh, Lord, can we tutor the princess
Anything but this!

The princess waves and smiles
Climbing into the convertible
For a victory lap
Like a prize horse after the Derby

The football warrior returns to the locker room
To be teased about the kiss
“Man, that was weak”
“Weak!”
“Piece of ass like that?  I’d have . . .”
And then the crude laughter floats out
But your camera can’t capture that
It doesn’t record the lecherous grins
That stay in the locker room

You picture the princess on Monday
Will she wear her crown to school?
Her birthday cake dress?

No, Monday she will be back to the
Bubble-headed brunette that she was before
Except now she will have to be nice
To the freshmen sophomores
That voted for her
And she will look at the junior class
And wonder who she will give the crown to next year

And you will be back in black
With a button that says “Music=Life”
Which no one quite gets
Pinned on your bag

And everyone will be talking about the dance
About the boy who danced so crazily
Captured in the Rebel
And the girl who thought she could dance
(She was dead wrong, but it’s great yearbook fodder)
And the players who came in late
Drinking in the parking lot
The hero of the game
And the princess
Sitting in the corner
On the lap of college-boyfriend
They are kissing deeply
Ignored by the chaperones
Because she is the princess
And they leave early
And everyone knows why
And the potheads
Who laugh crazily at the Barenaked Ladies song
That the DJ finally spins
Even though he knows no one will dance to it
And then it’s back to the pop
The rap
The crap
Golden moldy oldies
“I like big butts and I cannot lie”
The mixed that make them get up
And dance sweatily
A tiny group in the middle of the floor
A group that the Rebel captures
But you don’t join

Oh yeah, Monday after a dance
And you hear the stories of the parties that came after
When you had to be home
The apparent only one in the school with a curfew
On Homecoming Night
The only one whose parents
Didn’t supply to


You see the princess at her locker
And her face is tearstained
And you see college-boyfriend’s
Picture on the floor
Footprints on his handsome features
A tear rolls down her cheek
Across a perfectly-sculpted cheekbone
And you can’t help but ask what’s wrong

You are from Mars to her
But she looks at you
Her friends don’t know what to say
How to react
To your alien presence

But then she says
I told him, and he couldn’t handle it
He has a career in front of him
We don’t fit in.

We?  We? 
You notice for the first time
The slight bulge in the designer jeans
Not the back
Just the front
Not fat
Something far more sinister
And you can’t believe no one has
Noticed
Rumored
Accused

She smiles ruefully
What’s it all for
Can you imagine what they’ll say
And the princess and the geek
Share a moment
And you say
No, I can’t imagine

Now what?
I don’t know
This isn’t supposed to happen to me
I was careful
Most of the time

You’re very kind to care
And you realize you do care
She’s a mere child
A product of what fate has made her
As are you

And all of a sudden
Being a geek doesn’t matter as much
You’ll grow out of it
While the princess can only grow into
Her little problem.