Indiana University of Pennsylvania Tribute

From Alma Mater Vol. 2: The Northeast
Available Now for only 99 cents!

*IUP*

Don’t let It get away.

Chase It into the halls of Stephenson,
where comfort & leisure await.

When It tells you to put off unpacking to join the Freshmen Convocation on the grass…
Sit down.

Follow It to a table in Foster, where familiar faces from your floor are sitting…
so that new neighbors may become new friends.

On IUP Day, do not overanalyze which club to join…It will tell you.

Even though stage fright is still behind your class presentation, use It to tell a joke when
with a straight line—It comes to you.

Capture It when Its voice rises to speak to the beautiful face buried in the books of Stapleton,
even though the others expect silence.

Walk with It to a movie date when asked, even though Midterms
are hours away.

Use It as the color behind the Chalk-on-the-Walk. And make sure these words
have Its name in them.

At the small window where It shouts to get up for your 8 a.m. class:
Jump.

Attend karaoke night at Grubs Sports Bar with It,
to pay tribute to lyrics that gave breaks when life was canvassed in studies—
To help give it all meaning.

While at task,
Listen when It whispers at your desktop: That sleep does not assure Its restart,
so tonight you must reboot.

When it feels like you are knocking on the doors of something
the world has been missing,
do not walk away with reasons why they will never be opened to you,
find & mind your own business—then make the plan.

When jogging through Oak Grove past the variegated leaves of autumn, come to a halt
to take Its entire lifespan in your snapshot.

Unlike the trees in the picture that won’t soon be dead,
Its life’s length is of cutaway thread.
You must
Document Its fleeting time in your application, commute, then arrive:
You must
Allow your Inspiration to act,
While It is still alive.

Follow ClydeAidoo.com for more poems from the Art of Mind and Alma Mater series shared daily. You can purchase Clyde Aidoo’s latest release, Alma Mater Vol. 3: The West, a poetic celebration of the top universities of the West by clicking the link below.