One By One

All leaving tomorrow
One by one, the year above
The older guys and older girls
Who used to be just kids like us
In the playground throwing
Water balloons.
Linking daisies on the grass
Laughing til the end of day
The ones who looked
Straight down at us,
As sisters, brothers.
The bigger kids.
But they've left the tarmac,
They've left the school
And they've packed their bags
They've all grown up,
To university they go,
Some starting jobs
A different life
From the ones we knew.
And it falls upon
The empty rooms,
A silence deeper
Than when the teacher shouts
Sparking our childhood fears.
For these classrooms they are
No longer filled,
With faces we grew up knowing
The comfort of the older years
The kids above, the grades above
Who cushioned us from reality
And had lived before,
Any of us had dared.
That comfort's gone,
We're the oldest here,
It's our turn now,
And there we are,
To take their place
And soon too we all
Will have to face
The future stark,
And one by one

We'll all be gone tomorrow.