september 1st 1989

dear diary i believe i'm a good person

ya know i think there's good

in everyone but here we are

first day of senior year

and uh i look around at all

these kids i've known all my life

and i ask myself what happened

we were so tiny happy and shiny

playing tag and getting chased

singing and clapping

laughing and napping

baking cookies eating paste

then we got bigger

that was the trigger

like the huns invading rome

oh sorry

welcome to my school

this ain't no high school

this is the thunderdome

hold your breath

and count the days

we're graduating soon

college will be paradise

if i'm not dead by june

but i know i know

life can be beautiful

i pray i pray for a better way

if we changed back then

we could change again

we can be beautiful

just not today

hey are you okay

oh okay

things will get better

soon as my letter

comes from harvard duke or brown

wake from this coma

take my diploma

then i can blow this town

dream of ivy covered walls

and smoky french cafes

fight the urge to strike a match

and send this dump ablaze

ram sweeney third year as linebacker

and eighth year of smacking lunch trays

and being a huge dick

nothing

but i know i know i know

life can be beautiful

i pray i pray i pray

for a better way

we were kind before

we can be kind once more

we can be beautiful

agh hey martha

martha dunnstock

my best friend since diapers

yeah you're on jiffy pop detail

oh ho ho again

wait don't you have it memorized by now

kurt kelly quarterback

he is the smartest guy

on the football team

which is kind of like

being the tallest dwarf

hey pick that up right now

yes i am i wanna know what gives you

the right to pick on my friend

you're a high school has been

waiting to happen a future

gas station attendant

dear diary

why bracketed

then there's the heathers

they float above it all

heather mcnamara head cheerleader

her dad is loaded

he sells engagement rings

heather duke runs the yearbook

no discernible personality but

her mom did pay for implants

and heather chandler the almighty

she is a mythic bitch

they're solid teflon

never bothered never harassed

i would give anything to be like that

actually ms fleming all four of us

are out on a hall pass

yearbook committee

veronica sawyer i crave a boon

let me sit at your table at lunch

just once no talking necessary

if people think you guys tolerate

me they'll leave me alone

before you answer i also

do report cards permission

slips and absence notes

okay

and ya know ya know ya know

life can be beautiful

you hope you dream you pray

and you get your way

ask me how it feels

looking like hell on wheels

my god it's beautiful

i might be beautiful

and when you're beautiful

it's a beautiful frickin'day

veronica veronica

veronica veronica