alpha phi chapter of omega psi phi, fraternity, inc. annual scholarship competition

 PSALM 133 

King David

Behold, how good and how pleasant 

it is for brethren to dwell together in unity; 

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, 

that ran down upon the beard even Aaron’s beard, 

that went down to the skirts of his garments: 

As the dew of Hermon and as dew that descended 

upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD 

commanded the blessings, even life forevermore. 

SEE IT THROUGH
Edgar A. Guest

When you’re up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely face to face:
Lift your chin and set your shoulders,
Plant your feet and take a brace:
When it’s vain to try and dodge it,
Do the best that you can do:
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See it though!

Black may be the clouds about you
And your future may seem grim,
But don’t let your nerve desert you;
Keep yourself in fighting trim.
If the worse is bound to happen,
Spite of all what you can do,
Running from it will not save you,
See it through!

Even hope may seem but futile,
When with troubles you’re beset,
But remember you are facing
Just what other men have met.
You may fail, but fall still fighting;
Don’t give up what e’er you do.
Eyes front, head high to the finish,
See it through!

Members Vs Men

Bro Walter Herbert Mazyck

The value of our Fraternity is not in numbers, but in men, 

in real brotherhood.  Eight men thoroughly immersed 

in the true Omega spirit are far greater assets than eighty 

with lukewarm enthusiasm.  Do thy duty that is best, leave 

unto the Lord the rest.

INVICTUS
Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as a pit from pole to pole,
I thank Whatever Gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced or cried aloud,
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horrors of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years,
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how straight the Gate
How charged with punishment the scroll;
I am the Master of my faith;
I am the Captain of my soul.

THE BRIDGE BUILDER
W. A. Dromgoole

An old man going a lone highway
Came at an evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and wide and steep,
With waters rolling cold and deep.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen streams had no fear for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
You are wasting your strength with building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day,
You never again will pass this way.
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you this bridge at evening tide?

The builder lifted his old gray head.
“Good friend, in the path that I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
The chasm that was as nought to me
To that fair-headed youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim-
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”

LIFE
Paul Lawrence Dunbar

A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in,
A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,
And never a laugh but the moans come double;
And that is life!

A crust and a corner that loves make precious,
With the smile to warm and the tears to refresh us;
And joy seems sweeter when care come after,
And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter;
And that is life!

MOTHER TO SON
Langston Hughes

Well son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards turn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor-
Bare.
But all the time
I’s been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
and turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set on those steps
‘Caus you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now-
For I’s still goin’, honey
I’s still climbin,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

TO ARTINA
Langston Hughes

I will take your heart
I will take your soul out of your body
As though I were God
I will not be satisfied
With the little words you say to me
I will not be satisfied
With the touch of your hand
Nor the sweet of your lip alone.
I will take your heart for mine.
I will take your soul.
I will be God when it comes to you.

GENTLEMAN

A gentleman is a person who is clean
inside and outside…..
Who neither looks up at the rich nor
down at the poor…..
A gentleman is a person who can lose
without squealing, and who can win
without bragging……
A gentleman is a person who is
considerate to women, children and
old people, who is too brave too lie,
too generous to cheat and too sensible
too loaf…..
A gentleman is a person who takes his
share of the world’s goods and let
other people take theirs.

IF
Rudyard Kipling

If YOU CAN keep your head when all about
are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowances for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hatred,
and yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim,

If YOU CAN meet with triumph and disaster
and treat the two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you have spoken
twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, Broken,
and stoop and build ’em up with worn out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
and lose, and start again at your Beginnings
and never Breathe a word about your loss;

If YOU CAN force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve your turn long after they are gone,
and so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “hold on!”
If you can talk in crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings – nor lose your common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, But none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of distance Run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

Live Your Creed
Langston Hughes

I ‘d rather see a sermon than to hear one any day.
I’d rather one should walk with me than just to show the way;
The eye is a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
Advice may be misleading but examples are always clear.
And the very best of teachers are the ones who lives their creeds
For to see good put into action is what everybody needs.
I can soon learn to do it if you’ll let me see it done
I can watch your hand in motion, but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lectures you deliver may be very fine and true
But I’d rather get my lesson by observing what you do.
For I may misunderstand you and the fine advice you give,
But there’s no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.

IT COULDN’T BE DONE

Edgar A. Guest

Somebody said it couldn’t be done,
but he with a chuckle replied……
That maybe it couldn’t
but he’d be one who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled in with the trace of a grin on his face
If he worried he hid it
He started to sing as he tackled the thing,
that couldn’t be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: Oh, you’ll never do that;
at least no one ever has done it.
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
and the first thing we knew, he’d begun it.
With the lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
without any doubting or quiddit…..
He started to sing as he tackled the thing,
that couldn’t be done and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it can not be done…
There are thousands to prophesy failure…..
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
the danger that waits to assail you

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
just take off your coat and go to it
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
that cannot be done, and you’ll do it.

DON’T QUIT

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low , and the debts are high,
And you want to smile , but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest for a while , but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with it’s twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the cloud of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are,
It may seem near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seems worst that you musn’t quit