Bleached Blue Gowns

The bleached blue gowns

gracing shoulders

their gentle wind dance

and the reminder of a future

for a girl

learning of algebra and of neuronal dendrites

at twenty-three years old

That no prophet could have looked at the past

predicted this present

that ignorance gives way to enlightenment

and a homeschooled girl

climbs an Ivy mountain

the ruminative halls

topped with their turquoise copper turtle shells

The pride of Pantone 290

molded minds and trained affect

arguing over the true intentions of Hegel

and whether Freud was a phony

the confidence of progeny

who knew they’d inherit these halls

But who would’ve known

amongst the assured offspring of Manhattan’s wealthiest

sat a quiet student from Amish country

diligently scratching into that tattered notebook

in her bird’s eye view from a chestnut chair

the first classroom she’d ever graced

with the green boards of chalk commandments

And one day

a bleached blue gown

will drape from her shoulders

dance across the waves of the wind

and an accomplishment made of Ivy and Pantone 290

will elevate her too.