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Song of the Yew, at the University of Georgia, Athens

a sprig of General Oglethorpe’s ancestral yew was transported and planted aside the University of Georgia Arch on College Square, in Athens

Evergreen, with rusty hue,
Needles clean, with rain and dew,
Oglethorpe transported me
From Britain west across the sea.

His home and land were both combined,
My nomenclature was entwined,
For generations close we stayed,
Now my descendants be arrayed.

Aside the Arch, in Athens town,
My needles green, and tinged with brown;
Before they fall into the dust,
They go from green to brownish rust.

Angle-terre was old, you see,
America was new to me—
The evergreen renews itself
From shelf, to continental shelf.

.

.

Said the Millennial

Away with what you say we need:
Cars and houses, lawns and seed.
We missed the memo where you sold
A bill of goods, of cost untold.

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.

Alec Ream is a writer living in Virginia. His poetic work and creative fiction have been widely published. A member of the Demosthenian Literary Society at UGA, he wrote on Lookout Mountain, and continued to write, lecture and work for Delta Kappa Epsilon HQ. He was first published reading to the pledge class of Michigan DKE, in Ann Arbor in 2008. Recently, his poem Green Fire was read at the Washington Literary Society & Debating Union at UVA.

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9 Responses

  1. C.B. Anderson

    Alexander, I love the irony in both poems. So you are a Deke? I was friends with many Dekes during my time at Wesleyan University, and they were all stalwart fellows with firm handshakes. I do not believe, however, that many of them wrote poems.

    Reply
  2. Alexander Ream

    Thanks CB; we colonized DKE at UGA, and then I worked for the HQ in Ann Arbor for a couple of years. I was printed while House Dad at LSU. It was begun, as you likely know, as a literary society in 1844. There was still a sense of ancientry about the order when I was much involved – some of the best years of my life. That ancientry motivated me to “dwell in 1850” and write. I was printed in West Sussex while working for them, therefore. Michigan, Berkeley and LSU, among other chapters, always backed my writing and hosted literary exercises. Those guys were / are brilliant: wild enough to get back to their original roots, iow. I’m currently taking a room with the retired Director and his wife in their four bedroom house and vegetable gardening in their backyard. I’d like for you to see a photo of the tomato, cucumber, bean, squash and zucchini trellises, one of them approaches topiary quality. Based on Rodale / Cohen’s plans from the magazine.

    Reply
  3. Alexander Ream

    PS – President Evan and his posse were seen several times at Michigan Deke. A pellet gun might have been involved – or at least, that’s what I hear.

    Reply
    • C.B. Anderson

      I’m not quite sure what you mean here, but I can assure you that I am familiar with the uses of a good pellet gun. I’m pretty sure that my name will be written in the annals of squirrel, woodchuck and rabbit mythology as a great enemy of rodent-kind if and when these pestiferous species ever achieve sentience and record a body of literature.

      Reply
  4. Alexander Ream

    Nothing but centrist fun and tomfoolery – in a related issue, one of my buddies from high school shot his lunch out of a tree and fried it – a squirrel. Hey – waste not, want not.

    Reply
  5. Monty

    Well, it’s now plain to see that you obviously CAN write decent poetry . . . what a contrast to a previous piece.

    Reply

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