Alma Mater Vol. 2 Release Date Announcement

Happy New Year All,

May you all continue creating and sharing art in this wonderful community of ours. I would like to personally thank everyone who supported me in 2014 and for every visitor who so much as liked any poem posted on the website. I particularly would like to thank those of you who like and read posts of mine on practically a daily basis. You are very much noticed and appreciated. Above all, I am eternally grateful for anyone who purchased Alma Mater Vol. 1 on Kindle. I am as excited about this series as I was before I even released the first volume, and that excitement will be carried into Volume 2 of the series.

Those of you who have been on WordPress for a while have seen the numerous advertisements as well as sample poems from Alma Mater Vol. 1 for a long time now (and will continue to do so). Again, I would like to thank everyone who continues to support and like the advertisements and poetry, as my goal is to continue to share this series with this community as well as college students/enthusiasts every chance I get. Exactly two months from today, March 3, 2015, Alma Mater Vol. 2 will be released, and you can expect a most memorable collection.

Alma Mater Vo1. 1 was poetry dedicated to the major universities of the Midwest; in Volume 2, we travel to the Northeast, widely considered the most prestigious region of higher learning in the nation.

As we countdown the days to the release of Volume 2, if you haven’t already, click the link below and take the tour of the Midwest in Volume 1 for only 99 cents. In this volume, 100 of the top universities in the region are opened to the reader. Find out why Kirkus featured the series in its monthly magazine, and called it, an “Engaging Poetic Tour of the Midwest.” And in doing so, you will prepare yourself for Volume 2, which promises to take the series to another level. Thank you all for your support, and here’s to a great 2015.

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Alma Mater Vol. 1 Available Now

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.

Alma Mater Vol. 1: The Midwest is a collection of poetry that celebrates the major universities of the Midwest region. It is a project that Kirkus Reviews calls an “Engaging Poetic Tour of the Midwest” with “A variety of delightfully unexpected poetic forms.” And it is available now on Kindle for only 99 cents.

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No Way Should It Be This Easy

From Art of Mind II: All In

*No Way Should it Be This Easy*

You deserve better than this.
You deserve to be immortalized in the shrines of minds and wheeled through Grapevines, not left behind as if you’re not the best find I or he will Ever find.

Inhale.

After you left me shattered then separated I have the nerve to forget your clumsy touch. I don’t care that you dropped me, I feel blessed that you even touched me. Now I’m fighting to keep your memory alive without your

Body or Mind here to Remind what Time we had shared, yeah I know you didn’t care, it’s not like I was your significant other, just a quite insignificant other — who you left behind and moved on to another but I don’t want any other — I want your memory to haunt me so why the hell is it so easy to breathe these days when you’re not here to choke me with your dismissive words or fleeting transitive verbs?

Exhale.

They say Pain is what lets us know we’re alive, but that’s not why I can’t let you go; see the trouble is I find my resolve slipping, when I say, “I Can’t Let You Go.” I don’t care about the pain or “feeling alive” or any of that crap…hell, to be honest, I don’t even think I want you anymore because a man has his pride and all…I just want to remember every word and most of all I simply want to remember your face. I don’t know, I guess I’ve always been a believer in people getting what they deserve. And

That’s What You Deserve.

Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved
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Fourth Degree Murder

From Art of Mind II: All In

*Fourth Degree Murder*

Let things go their natural course,
Stop getting in the way,
She can make her Own decisions,
We can do without your petty say.
As she drags her friend away,
She could be pulling away destiny,
How can that whole group think it’s OK?
One should have the guts to bring her back to me.
Sometimes it’s only one Blocker,
Weighing no more than a Buck Thirty,
The target I want has her Guard Down,
But this Center is Playing Dirty.
Who knows what could have been?
Maybe a child or even a family of five?
All it takes is One Senseless Act —
To stop fantasies from Growing Alive.
I’m trying to do “Right By Her”
Still I’m being abused more than
Tina Turner…
They Think they are Saving a Friend,
While committing
Fourth Degree Murder.

Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved
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First Impressions

From Art of Mind II: All In

*First Impressions*

Go on. Strip me down.
I hope to do the same to you.
Look to exploit any vulnerability or fears,
I hope to be around to take yours away.

Pick away at any fault, any verbal trip-up, and keep looking for any weakness;
While
I’ll keep building you up:

Using all your strengths.

Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved
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A Salesman’s Omission

From Art of Mind II: All In

*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?”

Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved
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Blank Stare

From Art of Mind II: All In

*Blank Stare*

Her eyes rise.
She gives a seductive glare.
But until she knows what she’s eying —
This is just a blank stare.

The physical scope is far too limited,
Her lens can’t expose what really matters.

I know what she doesn’t know about herself —
Which is that she knows nothing at all.

Her eyes are dancing and her lips are curling —
Very inviting, not very exciting.
Because I know until she gets to know me,
Our slate is clear and will likely remain unwritten.
I’m an outsider, different, perhaps even unusual,
I’m willing to bet this type isn’t her usual.

I wish I could say I don’t judge by covers,
but she seems fairly easy to read.
I’m nearly certain I know what she goes for,
and I have the good sense to know it ain’t me.

So her smiling and staring is empty —
Since it means Absolutely Nothing.
If I am wrong, by all means
sit with me:

And let’s get to work —
Filling in these blanks.

Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved
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The Staredown

From Art of Mind II: All In

*The Staredown*

I’m not used to being looked at that way.
Rather, I’m not used to having someone around to look at me that way.
No, no, it’s just that look.
There was a certain admiration, lust,
Power
In her stare…that proved just too much.
Now I can stare down Bloods & Crips,
Starving Nymphs,
Navajos, Ball Pros, and Hos…
but it is honey and sweet things
that bring the Strongest Men to their knees.
When she wins this staredown, she may assume it’s because I’m weak —
When she really is just oblivious to her own strength.

She engages me with that look.
That tender, longing look.
I step up to the plate —
Ready for whatever she throws at me…
Then my eyes go like the electricity:
Down and Out.
And our hopes go like a
Bambino slug:
Up
Up
&
Away.

I inhale, Man Up and Look Up…
But as I looked away —
She had gone away.

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Me Against the World

From Art of Mind II: All In

*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*

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Unsung

From Art of Mind II: All In

*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.

Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved
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