Ode to Langston Hughes
I wonder if heaven is a big sea for you
The waves crashing in a bebop rhythm
That eases your heart of the weary blues
that filled your words
that spoke to me
as a twelve year old wandering through days
climbing a darkened staircase
humming that life was fine
You taught me that homework could be social commentary
You told me to hold fast
to my dreams
I found my place in your America
as I wrote my view of the streets
in my own rhythm
in my own meter
in my own voice
Your jazz played a soundtrack for my muse
And I hope you smiled
as I taught your words
to my own students
trying my best to be silent
as you sang from the page
taking them to Harlem
as they sat in the middle of America
Your verses
so much sharper
than any photo or story
For Christmas
they gave me a collection of your poetry
I never told them that I already owned it
both copies sit on my bookshelf
edges tattered like a song
that echos on Lenox Avenue
I hope you are happy now
I hope you are satisfied...
Poetic Form #93: Ode
An ode is a poetic form meant to celebrate a person, nature, or abstract ideas.
There are three types of odes.
A Horation ode has a structure of one stanza pattern that repeats throughout
the poem--usually 2 or 4 lines in length.
A Pindaric ode has a pattern of three stanzas called triads. This type of ode
can be composed of several triads, but the first (the strophe) and the second
(antistrophe) should be identical metrically with the third (epode) with its own
metrical path.
An irregular ode does not have any formalities, instead it focuses on the
praising aspect of the ode.
