‘Ivy’: An Original Poem Inspired by Ivy Day

Someone whispered, “Mother Nature must be a Smithie,”
one gray afternoon in May at a soiree hosted by storm
and overcast. Leggy and woody, this uninvited guest
with an endowment of sunrays welcomed the swarm

of seniors wearing white from head to toe hoisting
signs, inked in all caps with timely and timeless slogans
penned by the first to disperse cobbling paths unknown,
with canes, wheelchairs, and ankle-high brogans

along gray stones undeterred toward manicured beds
of evergreen behind Comstock and Haynes’s bricked portico
to be greeted by the middle in pleated white pantsuits,

trolling timely and timeless chants at society’s status quo.
Each clutching a single ruby rose, clad in linen and lace,
cotton and chiffon, so sisters seven in a row can promenade
through 50 states and 50 countries, a timely and timeless
coronation, a standing ovation for her annual evergreen parade.

This is just one of the many love stories we've received in conjunction with Smith's 150th. Submit your own using our love story submission form.