University of Nevada – Reno Poem

Posted on January 27, 2025 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*Nevada*

Wanna know what it’s like to ride with the Wolf Pack?
We don’t take bites of freedom,
Motherfuckers Wolf that.

’Merica

***

Rusty pick-up trucks with tinted windows:
’Merica

Disco Bowling wearing Dangle shorts:
’Merica

Beer Crawls after Balloon Races:
’Merica

Tahoe then a drunken rodeo:
’Merica

Play Keno: Pay Reno,
’Merica

Four years that starts with Hot August Nights
’Merica

(Cue the Melody to “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”)

My city, ’tis of thee,
Strip Clubs, Ka-ree-oh-kee,
Now, let us sing.
Land where the Rebels tried,
To take our field but died,
Fate of the losing side,
Reno, let’s sing!

Oh, U-N-Ellll-V,
How do we de-scribe thee?
Awful Awful.
Let’s keep the Cannon Blue,
Shame them to drop out school,
Reno has work for you:
Brothel Brothel.

Burgers and the buffets,
Atkins, please go away,
Let the Pack eat.
Bigg-est Li-ttle City,
Don’t take an-y pi-ty,
When Reb-els Run & flee,
Feed on scraps up the street.

Wolf-ie and sweet Alph-ie
Join us in praise of the
Wolf Pack we love.
Team vic-tor-y is soon,
Pack it’s then back to room,
Howl-ing loud at the moon,
This might be love.

My un-i-ver-sity,
Small town of li-ber-ty,
For thee we sing.
Land with the Stur-dy Team,
Land where ca-si-nos gleam,
Join in on Howl-ers’ scream,
Reno, let’s sing.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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The University of Montana Poem

Posted on January 23, 2025 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*The University of Montana*

As we depart from this backdrop of gardens,
Where Grizzlies respire into nature’s pardons,
Away from her air, the tempered heart hardens,
Leaving to the darkness, now we grieve.
We’ll reawaken to the smell of the evergreens,
The most beautiful scene—man has ever seen,
The preference of outdoors we will forever lean,
The dark room, called home, is just a reprieve.
We’ll dream of the Oval, the rivers, M Trail,
Then rise to fly behind nature’s tail,
Reawakened to again relive at morn,
Discovery continues with Grizzlies reborn.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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Montana State University Poem

Posted on January 3, 2025 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*Montana State University*

When skiers crossover to rejoin family,
When the climbers have made it past the Big Sky,
A new life is on the other side,
But this is forever the Last Best Place.

When cyclists and all the horseback riders,
Ride off into Montana’s sunsets,
The happy ending is far more bittersweet,
None of the living wants to leave this place.

Catapalooza gives strays a new family,
And a home in the mountains, a bed in the sky,
Trails and open spaces always by their side,
In the race with equine, here comes in first place.

The gates to the next life awaits these riders,
For every sun arising, another sun sets,
A new beginning in the real world—leaves them bittersweet,
But the Spirit of the Bobcat still stands in their place.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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Idaho State University Poem

Posted on December 20, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*Idaho State University*

If you listen closely enough, you can hear
Idaho’s state motto
Everywhere. Everyday.
Today, one of those places is inside an advisor’s office on Terry Street.
If you watch closely enough, you can see
Why this is the smile capital of the United States.
She smiled at the junior who entered her office,
Then She Listened.

The Bengal wanted to change majors and begin a new program in Biology.
The advisor then perused the Bengal’s file for a while,
And the only remaining task was to determine how long it
would take to graduate,
And as the third-year Bengal hung in limbo, she could only think of
Her experiences as a staff member of the Outdoor Adventure Center:

Camping at Big Springs Campground
With the astounding mountains in the background.

Competing in the Pocatello Pump,
Rock-climbing above the sum of contenders in lump.

Fishing in Pocatello Creek, Skiing up Pebble Creek…
And with that,
They began to speak…

She asked the counselor if she knew how long it’d all take,
How long until she finishes this mapped-out endeavor,
Inside her head, the wishful Bengal said,

Please, Let It Be Forever.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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The University of Idaho Poem

Posted on December 20, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*The University of Idaho*

Every significant moment in history that is covered
By the historians and the professors, is not only discussed
For what took place, but how they got there.
The common question from the inquisitive mind is simply,
What Led to It?

This very day in present time, there are students who
Have arrived to make their own history.
To mark their time on this earth and leave behind something of value for those who trail behind.
What led them to this?

What drove them to take Route 12, into the rapids and snow-covered mountains?
What led them to run through the rivers that led them right into the Hello Walk?

What led these students to trek this rugged terrain into a gem with the Memorial Gym
That is as architecturally admired as the Tudor-Gothic Administration Building, complete with its 80-Foot clock tower?

It may in part have been the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, or the friendly Idahoans
Who invited them in.
But there is one thing for certain…

Each one of these Vandals was driven to enter this land
With intentions of seizing the Silver and Gold,
Then to walk on, at large, as free men.

And when the Vandals run off
&
Leave their marks,

It is this University that led them to it.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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University of Hawai’i Poem

Posted on December 19, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*University of Hawai‘i*

There is a warm reception in the Hawaiian tropics.
A spoken word of poetry that flows in these Islands
to visitors, and
Sons & Daughters off to their studies.
A tender wind that breathes life to this destination,
Like the romantic sunsets & beaches carried by torches.
Under this sun, this moon, these stars,
The most-living have found heaven.

Canoe paddling in the ocean beneath the bluest skies man has ever seen,
Surfing in a setting that revives the self each ride,
And simply appreciating the fortune of drowning in beauty:

A treasure Hawaiians want to take to their deaths,
And share it with the world:
A fondness by request.

In this land where the Sugarcane sprouts,
And beautiful transcends to the spiritual,
There is an elevation topped with waterfalls,
That moves active souls to the world’s tallest mountain.

There is beauty all over the Pacific,
But in Hawai‘i, there lies the summit.
And when those sons and daughters leave for class,
They are off to reach their own.
In these islands of hulas, hibiscus, and heights,
Buried in the trenches are the
Rainbow Warriors who uphold utopia.
By continuing a tradition of Hawai‘i not spoken of as much by the visitors:
Wisdom from experience and acquired with knowledge.

Out-of-state students and life-long locals who will attend
The University of Hawai‘i,
During this four-year visit:
Be sure to bring your gifts.
And be prepared for the warmest of welcomes:
Every single day.

Hawai‘i is known for its beauty, beaches, volcanoes and summits,
but
Above All Is Humanity.
And this message is delivered in the hello to the incoming freshman.
In the goodbye of the graduating Warrior.
Sent off to the world and defined by Love:

Aloha from Hawai‘i.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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University of Colorado Boulder Poem

Posted on December 18, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*CU-Boulder*

There are those who play it safe, wadding adventures kept in a safe,
Then there are those who venture to go over, those who have dared
to
Live Boulder.

They Buff surfaces, then let their lights shine
A Boulder Gold and Silver found on an incline
For thoughts of ascension that mind their own affairs
Then ramble on through Conference of World Affairs.

And from this stand we assure the world hears us.

This is a campus of extraordinary beauty. High on the grass of Farrand Field,
Discovered every climb of the idyllic flatirons,
Where every time we see Colorado, we’re pushed to hike a
“Half Mile More.”
You can spot the Herd in a Pearl Street Stampede on our way
To the first zero-waste sports stadium in America:
Where the plays on the field are kept in sacks,
And memories inform the black:
No take backs.

In sports, CU remains
High. On the Hill.

With a pension to Free-ride in the snow Colorado
Has won 19 skiing titles, Go Colorado!
And the Cycling team has gloried Colorado
With their place at the top labeled: Occupado.

This is where shredders come from the largest snowboarding factory in the country.
Where the C-Unit blows the doors off Coors.
Where Ski Season is the “place to be” season,
And where there is no season like
Football Season.

Led out by the best mascot in college sports,
We’ll leave Rams in the dust, then
CU down the field.
Buffs roll forward: CU Touchdown!
And win another fierce
Rocky Mountain Showdown.

Team, all of Boulder has come to see you fight!
Fight, CU, Fight!

“The Pride and Tradition of the Colorado Buffaloes Will Not Be Entrusted to the Timid or the Weak”

Fight, CU, Fight!
Fight for Colorado: Week after Week.
Join the conference champions and the team of 1990:

Top. Of the Hill.
Then meet us every day
For another CU party, where you can find us
High. On the Hill.

The Hill where legends are made,
And phone calls are made
To friends across and out of state
Saying,
“This is the school to party.”

There goes the Herd down 13th street,
And if there’s a party with drinks, bet it will leak,
Then the entire Herd will soon come out
And show the whole world what CU’s all about.

Four years down the drain is what some think,
But these folks haven’t seen us clog The Sink:
A signature of Boulder, with names signed on the wall:
Graduates who after Commencement will answer the call

To stampede the world with the Nolin Charge:

“Go forth, but not from us,”

The University of Colorado will always run inside you,
And as now an official member of The Herd,

You’re always welcome back—to run it back
With us.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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United States Air Force Academy Poem

Posted on December 18, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*United States Air Force Academy*

Arrive to the Force with character unbroken,
Attached to the pod of integrity intact,
You’ll thrust the vastness of skies unopened,
A new history of self you’ll now enact.
Founded on a base we will instill,
Grounded on the emblem of excellence,
Training with rigor and will until
You’re ready to soar with air defense.
You’ll patrol in service of Silver and Blue,
To dive into labor, lad, is your first task,
You’ll enter as a Doolie, learn with the crew,
Then fly through class until you make First Class.
Wear the class ring when set at the gates,
Use the rudder of honor to yaw,
Pride the stars of the 50 states,
And leave this base then the world in awe.
Do you have your honor? Your valor? Your truth?
Then you are now fully cleared to take off,
You may become another’s recruit,
But these stripes you will never take off.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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University of Northern Colorado Poem

Posted on December 17, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*University of Northern Colorado*

Everywhere in Greeley, Colorado, there are Bears out there
Enjoying life:

Strolling along by the Platte River,
Taking ski trips with the pals,
Catching games at Nottingham field,
Or at another frat party, like the night before.

But then are some who choose to live differently.
Those who instead of recreations, decide to recreate themselves.
Bears who separated themselves from all the outside noise, and possibly left roommates
to
Go live in books.

And later realized just how smart of a move that really was.

Because when cramming in the Michener library,
Or pulling all-nighters, practically every night,
Some may view them as outcasts,
But

They are that much closer to finding a place in this world
That is far more permanent.

College is the time to live life,
But sometimes living is strictly internal,
It is wise to live in your books,
because
Her womb is eternal.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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University of Denver Poem

Posted on December 17, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*Denver University*

Outside Ritchie Center—Freshmen camp out
For hockey tickets, no matter the price,
Now begin years to gab & hang out:
Step out, Pioneers: Break the Ice.
Seven Hockey Titles—that’s a breakthrough
For the West where others settle for less,
Gold Pioneers—make their way through,
Then settle in a home reserved for the best.
The best hockey team in the western span,
In Magness Arena: Greatness lives,
Slashing through Tigers to claim the Gold Pan,
Showing all comers what greatness is:
A champion pedigree in hockey and skiing,
With more skiing titles than anyone else,
Giving our successors a value worth being,
And no one wants to be anywhere else,
But at home in these Rocky Mountains,
Denver, where the idea of a perfect retreat
Is at home in these Rocky Mountains,
A beauty from peaks here at your feet.
The sunshine of spring the poets tell of,
Colors rest spun from the yarn of fall,
The slopes where Pioneers show what they’re made of
Through inner gleams of Winter Carnival.
On campus for chili and joy in bundles;
The resorts where moments on air see birth,
Gasping at jumps, laughing at stumbles,
An avalanche of memories and measures of earth.
Pioneers have found a fertile world here on this western end,
When you leave out, oh, what stories you’ll tell,
Joy-ride through its pages then turn to the end:
Where you walk to the sound of the Victory Bell.

From Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West
You can read the full four-volume Alma Mater collection here.
©2016. Original Clyde Aidoo. All rights reserved

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