We entered this colony twelve years ago,

a row of antsy ants

filing into the classroom,

kissing our parents goodbye with

the light of youthful possibility

Many of us have been alongside each other

for this short lifetime:

growing into and against each other

as we become our next selves 

and others joined along the way

as others defected to a different colony

but we all spelled and memorized and noted and presented and brainstormed.

For many of us, that original light was dimmed

by number two pencils and alarm clocks and long hours 

of endless work

But now, it shines again

as we look into the sun

blinded anew by a benevolent future

For this the first time we all go out, 

leaving the safety and comfort

of the long-established anthill

with no one to follow and no one to lead

except ourselves

so we march, alone but not unsupported, into our lives.