Alma Mater Vol. 1: The Midwest (Available Now!!)

Available Now for only 99 cents.

I see you professor, messenger of tradition. I see you bookworm, pursuer of knowledge. I see you party animal, pursuer of parties. I see you jocks and fan enthusiasts alike, pursuers of glory. I see you alums, pursuers of the past. I even see you high school seniors, pursuers of the future, and still undecided on the direction to take. Yup. I see you. And this one’s for you: All of you.

Book Jacket Copy: In Alma Mater: Vol. 1, Original Clyde Aidoo takes us on a memorable tour of the Midwest with a vast collection of poetry celebrating 100 of the best universities in the region.

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Posted in College, Poetry

H.o.S.

*H.o.S.*

Love brings out the best in our hearts,
In Fact,
It also brings out the worst,
You’re punch drunk on the power of your vessels,
While I’m drenched
In the thirst.
You’re a vagabond, you’re designed to think twice,
That’s Alright,
I resigned to your chameleon;
Taken by your jade I was forsaken in the heist,
Vegas Matchmakers said
One in a Million.
Chance love with prudence, dear,
Be the oddsmaker,
A muse to the poets—
You are a book maker;
Blowing in the wind, child,
You are a breathtaker.
Your time was precious
&
Yes, you are the gem—
Classified as a
Heart of Stone.
~ ~
Love is paradoxical—
You must be selfish for you to be selfless.
You must hold out till you have it all,
Before you can give your all.
We want what we want—
Buy, Buy, Buy,
Hearts not in sync?
Bye, Bye, Bye.
I have been where the vagabond was,
Leaving another
Right where she was.
Cupid shot her heart and I saw it affected,
Then he shot mine and the arrow deflected,
Cursed with this cancer
I am still alone—
Left with this
Heart of Stone.
~ ~
Love is what the vagabond is—
A gem that everyone wants to hold,
In its pursuit some are left on their own,
While we bleed
the
Heart of Stone.

©2014. Original Clyde Aidoo. All Rights Reserved.

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Posted in Las Vegas, Poetry

Your Complicated Soul

From Art of Mind II: All In
Available Now: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mind-II-All-In/dp/0615547028/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388603246&sr=8-2&keywords=Clyde+Aidoo

Your Complicated Soul

*Your Complicated Soul*

You are not a pair of brown, soft angled eyebrows hanging above shadowed gray-sky eyes.

You are not a triangular face holding a head of blonde and brown streaks highlighted by hanging burgundy leaks in a room that complements your gentle-orange cheeks.

You are not a pair of delicate, flushed lips or a fair even tone with high cheek bones.

You are neither frail nor fragile.

You are not exposed but you are not covered.

You are not enlightened but you are not ignorant.

You are not a thinly frame in a flowing dark dress.

No, you are not what they think you are.
Though not even you know what you truly are.

You are not

weak, not strong, not afraid, not brave,
You are not a girl,
but you are more than a woman:
You are a
Magnificent,
Most Complicated Soul.

Painted by Juliette Caron

©2012. Original Clyde Aidoo. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted in Art, Poetry

Closure

From Art of Mind II: All In
Available Now: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mind-II-All-In/dp/0615547028/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388603246&sr=8-2&keywords=Clyde+Aidoo

*Closure*

A friend of mine once told me that
There is no such thing as closure.
When they’re done, they’re done,
That’s It,
It’s Over.
It’d sure be nice if it was more like the Soap Operas.
I don’t mean the yelling and the drama and the throwing stuff…
It’d be nice to know that you’d see that face again, and that whatever is meant to be —
Will Be,
And whatever happens — there will be closure.
It’d be nice to saunter aimlessly about town and end up on a pier at the same time the woman on your mind is just standing there, looking out into the water…all by herself…
With Absolutely No One Else Around.
That’d sure be nice.
To have that kind of timing, and for it to be out of our hands.
Only in real life this never happens, instead the weeks go by as we await a phone call from the one who has to deep down recognize the error of their ways…or at least have the courtesy to discuss their
conclusion.
But the phone never rings.
I’d like to just take a walk through the park in an empty town designed only to unscramble empty pieces and puzzling endings and find the same woman a week or so later. Once again. All by herself.
And not even be like,
“Oh my God. You again!? What are the odds!?”
But just simply state,
“Hi. How are you?”
All…Matter-of-Fact Like.
Then we’d pick up where we left off at the pier.
And if it must keep happening at the park, or the same pier over and over again, or best yet — an empty bar, that’s my favorite…then so be it. It will continue to happen because in this world, our guardian angels refuse to let us go out like that. They will see to it that we get that closure we so richly deserve.
And after everything is finally out and settled…suddenly, that park, the pier, and the only local bar in town suddenly become even emptier…or much more crowded.
And the face is gone as it should be.
Like a relationship purgatory that didn’t know where to go, but is now finally wherever it belongs, and out of your life.
It may be awkward at times, but it’d sure be nice to have a little closure. To find out what went wrong without always being the one to pick up the phone.
Or better yet, to say an amicable goodbye and sincerely reflect on memories one last time.
Yeah, that would be nice.
Almost as if thinking about the other person wills it into happening.
If it were like that down here, then
I would’ve seen her Every Single Day…
Until there was closure.

I don’t think I’d be the only one.
Those parks would be as packed as Wrigley, those piers as crowded as Navy, and those bars would have
*Capacity Met*
Yes, yes, yes, it’d be Nice to have just a little closure.
But that’s why it’s a Soap Opera.
Because here in this lonesome town:

The Phone Never Rings.

 

©2012. Original Clyde Aidoo. All Rights Reserved.
Feel free to reblog or share the link, all with proper credit given to author.
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Posted in Poetry, Television

Me Against the World

From Art of Mind II: All In
Available Now: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mind-II-All-In/dp/0615547028/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388603246&sr=8-2&keywords=Clyde+Aidoo

*Me Against the World*

Never take your eyes off the opponent…
Any great will tell you that.
Even before the bell…
Tyson was the best at that.
I’m alone in the corner.
Eyes on opponent.
Always on opponent.
I pace, loosen, stretch, waggle.
They may remain steady
or step violently in an attempt to intimidate.
My eyes shift with them.
Where they go, my eyes follow. Every movement is countered by my head.
My focus is undaunted, unflinching.
Finally, we meet in the center.
Human rulebooks stand in-between…
Telling me what I can and can’t do.
I pay no attention.
I stay focused on my opponent.
I make no faces —
No menacing gestures.
I just stare.
One of Tyson’s victims swayed during the staredown…
Trying to stay active and keep his energy.
Tyson’s head remained firm as Iron,
but his eyes swayed with the opponent.
Left to the right. Right to left. His eyes followed.

I go back to my small corner
where no one can touch me.
My opponent has already been announced.
The match already set.
It’s Me Against the World.
Bell rings.
I leave my corner in pursuit of a partner.
A Formidable Tag Team Duo.
Together let’s win the title; Change the title:
*Us Against the World*

 

©2012. Original Clyde Aidoo. All Rights Reserved.
Feel free to reblog or share the link, all with proper credit given to author.
All rights reserved.

Posted in Poetry

A Salesman’s Omission

From Art of Mind II: All In
Available Now: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mind-II-All-In/dp/0615547028/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388603246&sr=8-2&keywords=Clyde+Aidoo

*A Salesman’s Omission*

“Go out and Live!”
Exclaims the world!
They sell the notion of
Living Every Day
Like it’s the last
and to not let a single minute
Be lost.
With a drowsy eye
and a wavering head —
I sit up in my bed,
and skeptically ask:

“How much does that cost?”

 

©2012. Original Clyde Aidoo. All Rights Reserved.
Feel free to reblog or share the link, all with proper credit given to author.
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Posted in Philosophy, Poetry

Hours in Volumes

From Art of Mind: Philosopoems to the World
Available Now: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mind-Original-Clyde-Aidoo/dp/0615429777/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388603246&sr=8-1&keywords=Clyde+Aidoo

*Hours in Volumes*

Days shouldn’t feel this empty.
Sealing capsules without substance lowers already knocked off pedals of will —
halting locomotive chains that were
barely moving anyway.
I’m still expected to approve the dross and waste of a full 24 hour rotation,
and send it out as if completed, and as if ready to begin anew the following day.
How can I? How can one be satisfied with a malfunctioning vacuum of winnowed pieces
that cannot be out-placed?
A Day’s Quality has managed to evaporate once more,
so I must now settle for a quantitative mass-producing of
Hours in Volumes.
Deep-Sixed Ticks rise from a deserted grave
and I succumb to its strangle, until my body
slumbers,
but No —
I Will Not Rest.

 

©2012. Original Clyde Aidoo. All Rights Reserved.
Feel free to reblog or share the link, all with proper credit given to author.
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Posted in Philosophy, Poetry

Etched

From Art of Mind II: All In
Available Now: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mind-II-All-In/dp/0615547028/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388603246&sr=8-2&keywords=Clyde+Aidoo

*Etched*

It takes more than ink to be etched
into stone. To be engraved one must be graved —
Even if not gravely missed. Though one’s demise alone isn’t
the surest way to rise, rather one must simply be really, really old.
To be centuries older than the oldest man alive is the surest way to stay alive.
Indeed a measure of greatness is to continue to stand above all upright feet with no detectable contender amongst the millions of weary contestants. Or is it just a sign of the times? Not these times — those times. Times where you could write your own ticket to immortality while you were still alive. And when you did die? Well, your verse wouldn’t go rotten, because their archaic language ages like fine wine while
I’m
Sippin’ on this forty ounce,
Seems we’re standing on the corner as
The same names are re-announced.
Shakespeare was a baaadd dude but he can’t be Badder than Michael,
Wordsworth’s words couldn’t hit harder than Ali,
Sweet Emily wasn’t more loveable than Lucy…
And while none of the latter names are replaceable, seems they are quite comparable:
Ushers are put on the same stage as Michael,
Tyson takes a bite out of Ali’s Greatness,
And Lucy’s tenured rule seems overshadowed by Shows about Nothing and Reality TV — not to be confused.
It seems that only moving images can budge the wheels of time, while those with pens are etched in stone. But it does take more than ink to be etched in stone. It takes timing. Seems we’re hundreds of years off.
Maybe the revered names of yester-century will remain unchallenged because they’re so much more talented than I will ever be.

Fair enough.

But if I don’t speak to the nation, then I know Somebody has to.
Someone who writes for the people and not a false sense of belonging amongst the kitsch niche with hollow awards and fustian circles that won’t let the world in.
There has to be Someone only writing and not rapping who is worth enough to have his wallet read, “Bad Mother Fucker.”
If you want to reign over shelves today you have to be a “King,”
Alongside maybe a couple “Pattersons” or “Robertses….” but hey at least they’re today…
But that’s just fiction. Where does that leave us with the trippy talk?
Can one of us be the next Shakespeare? Or is that just poppycock?
No one is above comparison,
No matter how important,
Some even say Kobe is the Greatest,
Though Clearly he’s no Jordan.
Seems if you really want to be remembered, you should stay in school after-all. Learn how to write your hearts out, because as long as you’re on screen, the channel will eventually change.
If you want to be the best for decades and centuries to come without being contested by names of today or even a few years back,
Just jot ten timeless poems or so…
There’s only just One Catch:

It must be a Billion Years Ago.

 

©2012. Original Clyde Aidoo. All Rights Reserved.
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You’re No Ted Danson…Keep Waiting by the Door

From Art of Mind II: All In
Available Now: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mind-II-All-In/dp/0615547028/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388603246&sr=8-2&keywords=Clyde+Aidoo

*You’re No Ted Danson…Keep Waiting by the Door*

It’s good your
Inspiration
Is so widely-known,
If inspired by fiction or a no one —
That could land you in a padded home.

So I hope you get
three
Cheers,
And lots of fortune and fame,
In order to inspire the world —
“Everybody must know your name.”

 

©2012. Original Clyde Aidoo. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted in Philosophy, Poetry

Unsung

From Art of Mind II: All In
Available Now: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mind-II-All-In/dp/0615547028/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388603246&sr=8-2&keywords=Clyde+Aidoo

*Unsung*

It’s sad how narrow a voice can travel,
Even with the Range of a Soprano —
Just because so many doors are closed.

There’s only room for so many Divas…
You can belt your heart out and shatter glasses
but you cannot crack Ear-Muffs…
You’re a superstar blending with the rest of the masses,
It seems that’s just tough luck.

There’s a voice as pure as Norah’s,
With a pitch that cannot be made clearer…
Yes, Somewhere — there is Someone Singing:
And No One is around to hear her.

 

©2012. Original Clyde Aidoo. All Rights Reserved.
Feel free to reblog or share the link, all with proper credit given to author.
All rights reserved.

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Posted in Music, Poetry