Navy and Gray

copyright 6/09

Stately elegant halls
we walked through every day
Marble floors, oriental rugs
French Provincial they say

Black and whites stroll the corridors
meeting us in classes one by one
To teach us Math, History, Latin and more
Navy and gray is what we wore

Pressed button downs under our navy blazers
Plaid skirts and navy knee socks
always sliding down to our loafers

No makeup allowed
Clean washed faces abound
as we sauntered with our books
down the great marble halls

Our homes were our suites
each to her own
Connected by a bathroom
a bed, dresser and desk
We could do our homework
throwing items through the door
laughing quietly trying not to be heard
by the nun in her room at rest
just down the hall

Mass in the Chapel every morning at six
Black and whites waking you up
God awaits your voices
You cannot be sick

At night in the dining room
all of us met
Every age short and tall
bound by the same regret
We were eating dry hamburger
while in the next room
Nuns were fed steak
on their dinner break


All us girls got along
Some from countries so distant
Oil families, Senators and celebrities
Still all the same, teenagers one
Determined to seek out the most fun

I remember the day everyone quiet
with Sister Bernard sitting in English
while secretly being planned
what seemed to be a harmless little riot

First my roommate stole my shoe
tied it on a rope hung out the window
While Kelly and Margaret went up to the roof
and rolled fifty toilet paper rolls down all the sides
White paper streaming past the glass
while everyone ran around in their class

Nuns mouths opened wide
They were totally surprised
All this toilet paper falling down before their eyes

Kelly, Margaret and crew
and their grand plan a success
a last hurrah before graduation
What could the school really do?

Cab Calloway and Captain Kangaroo
were some of the fathers that we knew
Quite a cast of characters were we
moving together through puberty

Choir and Spring Musicales
we had alot of fun
Playing sports nothing undone
Basketball, Field Hockey, Horseback riding too
Walks on the grounds
Mother Mary watching us do
Statues and grottos for sneaking cigarettes
some joints even made it through

We never got caught
in all our misdeeds
Now they're great memories
some Grand indeed

We gave all the nuns
a really great run
seeking out fun
and in the end
We were all one