BOAM Nominee #4: Purdue University

On March 3, 2018, I will release The Best of Alma Mater, and I will need some help in selecting the crème de la crème. The best way you can assist in doing so would be to purchase each of the four Alma Mater volumes – Midwest, Northeast, West, and South, each docked at $0.99 and free for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers. Because the more pieces from the series you read, the more qualified you are to state whether or not a piece belongs in the “Best of.”

There were a total of 400 poems in the Alma Mater series, 100 from each volume: The Midwest, Northeast, West, and South. As it is now, the list sits at roughly 120 poems that will appear in the “Best of.” Ideally, I would like to cut it down to 100. So feel free to troll, either in the comments or, preferably, through my contact link, to let me know why a piece should be left out….or if you think a piece is a must-add, those comments are especially welcome. For the sake of selecting the best piece possible for this collection, if there is any piece that you feel could be omitted, please do not be afraid to add your feedback and it will be considered constructive criticism for the betterment of the piece. I am trying to put together the best representation of the series possible, so I do not mind being told that I could do without a piece either here in the comments through in the “Contact Author” page. On the flip side, when I say a piece is currently not planned to be included, also feel free to tell me that I’m crazy and that it’s a must include.

Today’s piece is one that currently is not scheduled to be included, although it was close call. There is no particular aspect about the piece that made me decide not to include it, just that as it is, there are already an overabundance of pieces slated to be in the collection, and I did not consider this a must-add. But I present it to you today to gage the potential advice as well as feedback through any comments or even just likes, etc. Also, what you are about to read is the first piece that I will be sharing with you from the series that has with an alternate ending. This version of my Purdue University tribute has a different ending from the version published in Alma Mater Vol. 1: The Midwest and is thus the first time it has ever been shared publicly. Yesterday, we attended Notre Dame; and today, we remain in Indiana as we go on to make our way as temporary Boilermakers through long-distance honorary alumni to this Alma Mater.

*Purdue University*

We make our own way in a mass transfer of vim,
While we forge footsteps, other schools fall behind,
because
One small step by them,
Is another giant leap for our kind.

Titanium does not orbit on its shelf,
The time to produce is never too soon,
If Boilers awaited change to make itself,
We wouldn’t have put a man on the moon.

Makers are unburned by slow logistics,
This cradle of creators shape an active nucleus,
We take off in the study of ballistics,
Where what man never knew soon becomes old news to us.

Flying to Mackey Arena and Ross-Ade
Are Boilermakers ready to sweat like Purdue Pete,
Through Stadium Mall is the Gold and Black Parade,
Racing through the streets like the annual Grand Prix.

The Breakfast Club is a locomotive through Chauncey Hill,
Phi Kappa Tau and the Greeks of Lafayette
Drink enough for the future—when memories refill,
As the mothers of moments—we could never forget.

Like the traffic in the lines of Earhart,
This world has givers and it has takers,
There are Hoosiers sitting and afraid to start,
Then, thank God, there are Boilermakers.

New Boilers in the Gold Rush will find Old Gold,
Awaiting their creations in these malls of reverence…
Fly on through outer space—and at home—break the mold:
And Boilermake your way past the walls of severance.

Preview and then purchase the newly released Alma Mater Vol. 4 below for only $0.99 or for free with Kindle Unlimited along with the other three volumes. And feel free to comment or email me using the “Contact Author” page on this site to assist in selecting the pieces for the Best of Alma Mater series released March 3, 2018.