Now that you’ve graduated,
walk into a bar full of nuns,
cockroaches, and dragons.
Realize that this is no joke.
Realize it’s a classroom, not a bar.
Order a round for the house anyhow.
Learn from everyone.
Change habits.
Outlive the next war.
Breathe fire.
Don’t take advice from anyone, poets especially,
but stay humble and open-minded.
If asked to give a commencement address,
keep it short
and don’t make it about yourself.
Let joy inflict you.
Choose wanderlust.
Do cartwheels or fly in circles.
Waltz like a shy sunbeam
crawling across a wall
in search of a window to climb through.