Colorado State University Poem

Posted on December 12, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*CSU*

‘Tis Friday the 18th of April today,
A very great day to discuss the Rams,
Like KCSU & CTV’s programs,
We all have an open platform to say….

All the things we love about CSU:
Like the allée of the Oval and the changes
Found through the seasons where its color ranges
From winter white to the CS hue.

The Green and Gold that’s found all around
Main Campus, Hughes, by the lagoon,
This nature is ripe for Rams to bloom,
And spread these colors throughout Old Town.

Like Aggie Theatre—for indie rock,
The Alley Cat for brewed community,
The service that follows after CSUnity
Is given with a smile and a live stock
Of accounted Rams who’ll hike up the bluffs,
Then ram the space of Horsetooth reservoir,
With the same energy that leads Rams to score
In the Big Chowdown where we Grill the Buffs.

Cheer on with Cam in the name of Green love,
We whitewash the ‘A’ and Green always comes out,
To support the school in another Green Out,
Soaked in the warmest-pride-you’ve-ever-seen love.
This is love that’ll be forever seen,
Through today to classes yet to see life,
What we’ve lived here will make us stay for life
Forever Young: For-Ever-Green.

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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Colorado School of Mines Poem

Posted on December 12, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*CSM*

These E-Days of earth, environment, and energy
Convert the dull—to tools that embolden
Orediggers at Mines in a life that refines
The Blue & Silver: Welcome to Golden.
They pull full ore carts with this energy,
Freshmen spot the “M” and know that it’s Mines,
Then climb Zion—and find an inner chi,
They look down below and whisper, “It’s mine.”

The school made whole by The Mining Engineer,
Singing, “M-I-N-E-S!!”
This “Golden Tech” is at the mountaintop,
And where Orediggers discover their best.
All over campus: The Gang’s All Here:
A museum well known for a collection that rocks,
Brown Hall to study, then Stratton to hear:
Congrats, Orediggers, you’ve reformed the clocks.

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 Southern California Poem

Posted on December 5, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*USC*

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey Hey hey-hey-heyheyhey-ahhhhhhhhhh…
S-O-U-T-
H-E-R-N!
C-A-L-I-
F-O-R-N-I-A!
SOUTHERN! CALIFORRRRR-NIA!

Let now the Conquest begin.

***

There’s a Perfect Day on the horizon.

It’s gloomy in UCLA after a loss that tailed the coin toss,
But here on the Brighter Side of L.A.
We look to complete the Perfect Day…

By clouding the name of Notre Dame.

It may never rain in Southern California,
But it always hails
Cardinal & Gold.

Befalling more Olympic medals and men’s NCAA Championships
Than any other school,
And a gold yield that floods the field:

11 National Titles & 36 Conference,
In the history’s press:
We hold the conference.
At the NFL podium in NYC,
The most draft picks have come from USC.

“With the first place in the NCAA race:
The facts select USC.”

We drink brew all night to celebrate this sound,
While the cross-town Bruins go during the 6th round.
And on home Saturdays it’s always found
That in the Coliseum it’s Buds all around.

Triumphant Trojans, Fight On!
And let the Spirit of Troy March On!
Across this field where our cleats pull the yard
On to the stars that illume the Boulevard.
And so it is written—beyond this Exposition
In the stars where Trojans will stay in their position,
The Team of USC is the gold unraveler,
They charge the open field with the trusty Traveler.
The lamppost gets kicked, and so do the Irish,
Them outshining our stars comes before an “I wish,”
For each time we score it’s push-ups by the point,
For every time we score, the other team gets the point,
And by the time the torch lights the start of the fourth,
It is already clear the champions have come forth.
Real stars break ground to release earthquakes
And a football scene giving 11 great takes.
Real stars reach the sky so their names can touch down
On the walk where film’s past can still reach & touch now:
The Red Carpet remnants of the Cinematic Arts,
The oldest film school still producing rolling starts.
Names who’ve walked over all the ephemeral feet,
Names like Will Ferrell walking 28th street.
Names like Will Ferrell who here walked among the Greek,
Old School Trojans lead the way that rebels seek.
Trojan units home go on a 9-0 run
For $1 shots and keep our #1 run
As the biggest party school here in California: Blaow,
Parties on weekdays and Greek Life is So Cal.
Bruins think they got our number but their paws can’t even dial,
They’re hung up on their past we stay fresh: Cali style.
The brightest stars in Cali are in the 213,
And the loudest conquests commence at USC.

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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Pomona College Poem

Posted on December 4, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*Pomona College*

The joys are countless—of life as a Sagehen,
But let us break it down to these 47 things.
Let us count this, and so we shall begin,
Here is the list of the 47 things:

The act of attending what is a New Ivy,
Being sucked into all this happiness,
J Tree, Walker Beach, such great weather,
What feet wouldn’t want to walk to this?

The Village, The Quad, The Farm,
Environmental Arts, a Great Program List,
And with Study Abroad and Internship Programs;
We even give chances to walk from this.

But they long for the return to the Beautiful Dorms,
And acclaimed dining halls like Frank and Frary,
Going to Snack, Eating under Prometheus,
Free Hugs and Free Kegs brought by the Keg Fairy.

Painting Walker Wall, Birthday Dunking
Makes everything feel soundly in order,
Love, The Arts, Jamba Juice:
Not necessarily in that order.

Ski Beach Day, Montgomery Roof,
Good friends and weekends at the Boot,
The Fountain, living in a tight-knit campus,
Then the student store we go to re-Coop.

The OTL club to go On the Loose,
South Campus Pool, the Tennis Courts,
The Gym, The Rose Hills Theatre,
A Capella and foods of different sorts.

Eureka Burger, Pita Pit, Yogurt Land,
Big Bridges, Little Bridges, Building Bridges:
Diversity welcomed to Claremont, California
In a school included among prestigious.

If you look closely enough, 47’s everywhere,
Like in each 24/7 computer lab,
The last two on the list is To Be a Sagehen,
And each day we are honored to have:
Counts as just
One of 47 Miracles.

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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UC Santa Cruz Poem

Posted on December 4, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*UC Santa Cruz*

If you found a forest fire in the City on a Hill,
Would you then come out? Or try to put it out?
If I told you there’s Banana Slugs opposed to decompose,
Would you fade with no resistance? Or try to slug it out?
It’s pouring and that’s—just fine.
We’re high, it’s getting cloudy, and we’re happy on Tree 9,
Because the more it rains—the more grass grows,
And at First Rain, we wear no clothes,
And it’s all just organic as farm rows.
Here’s to another great 4/20,
And there won’t be another 20,
So pass that joint before this passes by.
Not unlike 19 and 18,
And all the years chopped down in between,
Someday we’ll see all this and have to say goodbye…
And in this haunted forest, with Slugs who swore they’d never leave:
I say let’s keep resisting:
In this Perfect Place to Die.

When their power is on, they try to shut us down.
But Slugs don’t go down swinging:
We don’t go down at all.
The power is on. So they can’t shut us down.
And when the system tries:
We stay lit like Fireflies.

We’re floating in the Meadow,
Taking bridges where we all go
Through ports of beauty in Redwoods,
That’s only fully understood:

From up here…

From up here…

From up here…

And up here,
Food tastes so much better,
The beauty now looks even better,
Come share this view of
Cruz Uprising.
We will choose to take the high way
To cruise the beauty found here each day
And from these trees she sure looks like
Monterrey Bay.
And though they always cut our forts down,
Our fortitude will always rebound,
And when they tell us we can’t pass,
We always fail to leave no record,
Tell us again we can’t come through,
Tell us again what we can’t do,
We’re at Porter more than ever before:

Now who’s the Broken Record?

When their power is on, they try to shut us down.
But Slugs don’t go down swinging:
We don’t go down at all.
The power is on. So they can’t shut us down.
And when the system tries:
We stay lit like Fireflies.

We’re floating in the Meadow,
Taking bridges where we all go
Through ports of beauty in Redwoods,
That’s only fully understood:

From up here…

From up here…

From up here…

It’s all clear:

The All Clear

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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Humboldt State University Poem

Posted on December 3, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*Humboldt State University*

Oh it’s a sunlit California afternoon in the middle of April,
And this car full of Humboldt State students
Cannot think of a better day to go on a long road trip.

They were on their way to the annual Coachella festival 12 hours away,
but with the mixtape blowing with different stages of the wind,
The concert has started early.

Four windows are rolled down
&
15 sprite fingers are out tickling the six-string of spring.
Five bodies are free bound
In the Crown Victoria and to the music they all sing.

12 hours never rolled by so fast.
Making it all the easier to press repeat.

Possibly the greatest part of listening to a beloved track is hitting repeat,
And perhaps the best part of a road trip among friends is knowing that
As much you may want to hit rewind, these wheels continue to roll forward…

Making this the ideal time to keep playing.

Each of these seconds feel so Live
and wired for the sound of conversations, comfortable silences, and stillness for the interceptions of wind and music.

No, 12 hours never rolled by so fast.
Making it all the easier to hit repeat.

The trip is now pulled into reverse and a new mixtape is put in the player.
Yes, the journey is usually the trip, but the anticipation of these Lumberjacks to arrive at their destination is very real.
As real as the moments in Muddy’s, Farmer’s Markets at the Plaza, and in the Quad
Where just a few people dance just as alive as the thousands upon thousands that plug Indio.

Moments in the tranquil forest where in the studio of nature, we find a new release.

There is no place as inspiring as a daily trip through the redwoods of Humboldt State.

And that is all the inspiration these roadsters need to
Hit repeat for another 12 hours
To return to the point where they belong;
The high point of the road weekend’s song
Where they crash back home.

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 San Francisco Poem

Posted on December 2, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*University of San Francisco*

Change begins at USF. A road map that has encompassed
Giants of San Francisco like Bill Russell,
Rolling Stones like Charles Fracchia who have taken the same bridge as the tourists, photographers, and beatniks, each coming back changed…and some, like the students of USF,
Thanking the world for carrying such beauty.

When America takes the Golden Gate Bridge, have you ever wondered where they are going?
I mean beyond the town festivals and Painted Ladies that dress these districts.
For many who make this town their getaway,
that answer may remain shrouded.
But for these students who have found their stay,
They are going
To make change.

A trip that begins with the Jesuit values that carry social justice,
Majors of a nursing program who believe in the healing powers of
Saint Ignatius Church.
Young men and women who amnesty a global orientation
Beyond our cutting-edge art to an even newer start.

It starts here.

The belief that the destination to change is paved in Green and Gold. That the 6,000-plus students who every year begin from the Hilltop and leave to lend service to this community have left and returned to their dorms and apartments, but continue the exploration of what they have changed.
How they have changed.
Everyone has personal journeys, whether or not they stop to study the pictures. And USF is committed to remove as many detours and roadblocks from the outside world, so that each person can find themselves;
And so that America can find itself at a better place.
For years, USF students have altered this country’s landscape,
Students who left having changed the world’s photograph,
Then hands the camera over to the next class,
Where the world’s new capturers will
Take it from here.

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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California State – Sacramento Poem

Posted on November 27, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*Cal State Sacramento*

(Set to the Melody of “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty)

Well I—Love Sac-Town.
Yes I—Love Sac-Town.
You can raise town costs and the rates like hell,
I’ll still—Love Sac-Town.

Tree Campus is our ground,
So Forrest—ran to town.
And we keep on runnin’ those Aggies out of town
As we—Stand our Ground.
And they—All Back Down.
(I Love Sac-Towwwwn)
Heyyyyyyyy, Hornets!
Keep all that Green & Gold Out!
(I Love Sac-Towwwwn)
Heyyyyy, I—will rep my town.
Cuz I Love—Sac-Town.

Well our—Teams all fight.
We’re the—Big Sky’s light.
And our ROTC is the best around,
They all—hold it down.
And We—Love Sac-Town.
(I Love Sac-Towwwwn)
Heyyyyyyyy, Hornets!
Keep all that Green & Gold Out!
(I Love Sac-Towwwwn)
Heyyyyy, I—will rep my town.
(I Love Sac-Town)
Cuz I Love—Sac-Town.

And we—love Downtown.
We are—highway bound.
With the K Street Mall and the Kings in town,
Hornets—love this town.
Yes we—Love Sac-Town

<20-Second Bridge Interlude>

……

Heyyyyyyyy, Hornets!
Keep all that Green & Gold Out!
(I Love Sac-Towwwwwn)
Heyyyyy, I—will rep my town.
(I Love Sac-Towwwwn!!)

Heyyyyyyyy, Hornets!
Keep all that Green & Gold Out!
(I Love Sac-Towwwwn)
Heyyyyy, I—will rep my town.
(I Love Sac-Town)
Cuz I Love—Sac-Town.
(I Love Sac-Town)
Yes, I love-Sac-Town.

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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San Jose State University Poem

Posted on November 26, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*San Jose State University*

30,000 Spartans are deployed all over the combined 216 acres of San Jose State University.
And they arrive in lecture halls like the BBC, to receive their weaponry.

This is where the Spartans are briefed on how to take over the power.

In this hall, like so many around the country,
There are faces being read as they are listening.
Within the expressions of the commander and his orders to follow his lead into amicable
wars of words, each expression is met with study, not back in the dorm rooms or MLK Library,
but right here in the midst of exchanging fire.

There often is a silence in the hall save the one voice of the commander.
Some take this for boredom.
Most mistake it as boredom.

In closer inspection, you see faces anything but bored. No, they are crying for help.
Yelling inside,
“Please God, just let it be Friday!”
There are many sending messages to comrades hoping they will rescue them with replies.
There are Spartans spanning the room, looking for their next conquest. And there are those facing straight ahead…and though you would never know it, they were the ones who left before everyone else.

And there are those who pick up the slack of others to accept the challenge of the commander. They allow themselves to be armed for battles that lie ahead as they genuinely face ahead.

The uniform is casual: polo, denim, perhaps the occasional pajama wear…and of course
Spartan
&
CALI
FOR
NIA
t-shirts.

And in this army noted for such diversity and individuality,
You’ll notice a commonality spread throughout this population:

The objective remains the same, regardless of who trailed off and whose focus remained motionless.
And after each course objective has been completed, 80% of these Spartans go on to work their next assignment:

Where they are to be the
Modern Spartans of a Current
that transferred out…
As the New Power of the Silicon Valley.

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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Santa Clara University Poem

Posted on November 26, 2024 by clydeaidoo — Leave a comment

*Santa Clara University*

In the trees of the Redwood yearbook,
There are photographs that are in His image,
It is the aftermath of another clean finish,
And what just passed us now commands a second look.

Returning to the orchard and the Santa Clara Mission,
Going back to take with us the fields of St. Claire,
Dwelling in what remains a permanent time share,
Stilled pages like the love—captured from admission.

We remember Leavey games where spirit was moved
By Ruff Riders, Home Santa Clarans;
We remember the time flying along with the herons,
Now it’s back to the tree where our time here is proved.

The annual Redwood ascends higher than pine,
It locates the heart and each trace will not erase,
What is left behind is found in print in every face:
Broncos en mass reached by the Divine.

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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