IN LEAGUE WITH IVY

              By JOAN M KOP

Ah, Gonzaga…

member of the Pine League,

nestled by a riverbank,

clothed in the warmth

of a fir-lined pocket

on the spot where Cataldo found you.

An ideal climate—

to learn,

to be,

to become,

with friendship pulsating

under observant professor eyes

and pal Crosby’s thoughtful ways,

the effervescent sparkle

in your snowbelt community.

The Jesuit fathers would be proud

of the car you take

polishing

rough-cut, knowledgeless hearts

into brilliant prisms

of responsibility and good will,

wrapped as care packages

to a waiting world.

The sound of wisdom miners echo

in the valley of opportunity

beyond your gates,

searching for

a Pilgrimage,

a dream,

a prayer,

finding more than they bargained for—

a will to meaning.