This is your invitation to the Ninth-Grade Play At Jackson Park Middle School 8:00 P.M., November 17, 1947. Macbeth, authored by Shakespeare And directed by Mr. Grossman and Mrs. Silvio With scenery from Miss Ferguson’s art class. A lot of effort has gone into it. Dozens of students have chosen to stay after school Week after week with their teachers Just to prepare for this one evening, A gift to lift you a moment beyond the usual. Even if you’ve moved away, you’ll want to return. Jackson Park, in case you’ve forgotten, stands At the end of Jackson Street at the top of the hill. Doubtless you recall that Macbeth is about ambition. This is the play for you if you’ve been tempted To claw your way to the top. If you haven’t been, It should make you feel grateful. Just allow time to get lost before arriving. So many roads are ready to take you forward Into the empty world to come, misty with promises. So few will lead you back to what you’ve missed. Just get an early start. Call in sick to the office this once. Postpone your vacation a day or two. Prepare to find the road neglected, The street signs rusted, the school dark, The doors locked, the windows broken, This is where the challenge comes in. Do you suppose our country would have been settled If the pioneers had worried about being lonely? Somewhere the students are speaking the lines You can’t remember. Somewhere, days before that, This invitation went out, this one you’re reading On your knees in the attic, the contents of a trunk Piled beside you. Forget about your passport. You don’t need to go to Paris just yet. Europe will seem even more beautiful Once you complete the journey you begin today.