Prompt #47

High Praise!

Good Morning, My Online People.

Photo by matt tipler on Unsplash

Question:

When was the last time you fell so completely bonkers for someone or something that you just couldn’t stop yourself—you just had to write a poem to them/it? (If the answer is “never,” then I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe go back to an earlier prompt from a previous week and do that one instead of this one.)

No, we’re not writing poems today—though you are more than welcome to use this prompt to write a poem.

Today, we’re writing “Odes.”

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, wait a minute, what IS an ode, anyway? And I’m going to answer that question right here with an answer I got straight off the Google machine. An ode is:

“a lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject, often elevated in style or manner and written in varied or irregular meter.”

That’s right. An ode is written directly to the thing you are ode-ing! Also, an “ode” is a lyric poem, but we’re going to ignore that part. We are rule breakers! We don’t have to write lyric poems if we don’t want to!

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Let’s take a look at a few odes so that you can get an idea of what, exactly, I’m talking about.

First we’re going to head to the Chairman of the Odes, the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who wrote odes to just about everything. Here he is, praising his socks, in, unsurprisingly, “Ode to My Socks.”

You can easily find Neruda’s other odes online, including “Ode to Wine,” “Ode to Sadness,” “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market,” “Ode to Broken Things,” and everybody’s favorite, “Ode to Ironing,” among others.

Next up, and in keeping with the “foot” theme, we’ve got Franciso X. Alarcon straight from the Poetry Foundation, with “Ode to My Shoes.”

And here’s Camisha L. Jones, praising her hearing aids in—you guessed it—“Ode to My Hearing Aids.”

Now, you may be thinking, these Odes are very nice and all, but they aren’t stories. And if you are thinking that, then I’d have to agree with you. These are not stories. But I think there is a way they could become stories.

For those of you who need a story, here’s one from the always amazing Kathy Fish. It’s not an ode, per se, but it is a story of praise. (And be forewarned: it’s a sad story.) Called “Praise Rain,” it’s published online at The Master’s Review.

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TODAY’S PROMPT

Wrote your own Ode or Praise story.

1. Choose a person, place, or thing that means a lot to you.

2. Write to that person, place or thing. Praise them in some way. That way can be sarcastic if that is your bent. Or you can be completely serious. Your choice.

3. If possible, write your story directly to the thing or person you are praising.

4. Your finished product doesn’t have to be a complete “story,” but it certainly can be.

5. I realize this prompt isn’t the most clear prompt I’ve ever given you, but just go with it. See what you can do. Surprise yourself!

6. Some suggested titles:

• Ode to the Prompts on mary g.’s Substack

• Ode to My Last Pack of Cigarettes in 1987

• Ode to My Youthful Breasts

• Ode to the Bottle of Wine I Have Just Finished Off All By Myself

• Ode to my Air Conditioner

• Ode to My Baby’s Perfect Foot

• Ode to the Man in the Next Lane Doing an Amazing Butterfly at the Pool

That’s it! Post up to 400 words in the Comments section.

See you next week!