Along State Route 130 near Bone Gap, Ill., there is a sign honoring Bone Gap Junior High School's 1988 Illinois State Middle School volleyball championship. This title was won in the midst of a bitter, unsuccessful battle to keep the school open. Any high school, junior high or college team's championships may be long gone, but signs like this one keep them alive.

It flaps in the wind

on a Southern Illinois day,

A hand-painted Cardinal,

the crowning jewel

of a glorious,but troubled year.

The sign remembers,

the sign remembers.


The last bittersweet days

of a red brick dowager.

the heart of a cluster of houses

on a Bonpas blacktop

Torn out by far-off men,

The sign remembers,

the sign remembers.


The hopes of a tiny hamlet,

perched on the shoulders

of strong young boys and

volleyball playing ingenues.

The last glory of a little school

Forever champions before high school.


A plastic basketball player,

dipped in silver paint

broken off and dangling

like Bone Gap's broken heart.

The sign remembers,

the sign remembers