On Odes........

This week the students are going to learn how to write an ode.

An ode is a lyric poem, usually written in a formal, heightened style, and usually with a dignified theme. Its purpose is to praise and glorify. Almost all odes use the poetic device of apostrophe, where the speaker addresses something that can't speak back -- and inanimate object or an absent person. Our odes, of course, will be a little out of the ordinary.

Here's two that I wrote as models for the students.

Ode to Bugles

And you, crunchy Bugle,
are the cornucopia of my kitchen cupboard.
The moment I open the bright red box,
your aroma greets me and I’m transported
to the county fair
and the heavenly scent of roasted corn
fills my nostrils.
Greedily I grab for your pointed ends,
careful not to crush them,
like a giant swooping in for a handful
of tiny elves wearing their little cone-shaped hats.

You, Bugle, are the crisp golden delight
of my childhood.
Sometimes I would not even eat you,
until I had worn ten of you as fingernails,
crinkly and wizard-like at the ends of my hands,
only to devour you one by one,
fingertip by delicious fingertip.

Ode to Rice Krispy Treats

Truly, Rice Crispy Treat,
you are a treasure among snacks.
You are the perfect marriage –
a melting of marshmallow
joined with
a crackle of crisped rice –
and molded into golden bricks
of childhood memory.
With you, Rice Crispy Treat,
I see my mother at the stove,
a double boiler filled with a cloud of white,
while I waited nearby
with a wooden spoon
to stir you into existence.

Michael McIntyre
2010