Ode: A poem in which a person expresses a strong feeling of love or respect for someone or something.
My poetry gals and I had sort of exhausted ourselves with pantoums, raccontinos, sestinas and other such ambitious craziness.
So. Yes, we said. Odes! Simple odes. Odes with no particular rules (although some odes do indeed utilize rhyme and other, more subtle directions and parameters.) Well, wait, actually — we did agree that we’d try to make them a little bit funny.
Here’s mine!
An Ode to Curls, and to my Girls
High praise to the frizz I tried to flatten
every day for decades – with a hairbrush,
a hot iron, a hand drier…
Acclaim to the curls I attempted to condition
into compliance, stretching and pulling
into silky sheets of shine (until they dried)…
An ovation to the corkscrews of crazy,
which at weddings and whatnot
behaved like bad Uncle Bruce – unpredictable,
and there without a proper invitation…
Commendations to my mop top
that doesn’t match the magazines
and is a model, in fact, of opposition,
of unapologetic civil disobedience!
My utmost regard to this mane of mine:
outrageous and tempermental, untamed
by time, unpacified by product,
in its very boldness not unlike
my daughters — my daughters! — wild
and alive with audacity.
PS — This is a little bit of a random segue, but my mom sent me this picture this week so I have to share it. It’s my sister and me with our dad and you can clearly see here where my curls came from. (And that’s my sister, the cute one in the front with the glossy hair. I’m all sunglassed up in the back. It was the 70s, dudes.)
Now, here’s Kelly’s very brilliant piece about the F-word!
And Andi’s lovely, wry words on knitting….
And then there’s Sara’s — I’m not going to tell you what it’s about. You just have to go with it.
Laura’s celebrates junk food with moxie ya’ll,
Tanita’s language orgy (sorry, but it is, in all the best ways) about baubles and beads,
and Tricia’s — oh you guys. She was the first to finish and she took the humor mandate really seriously. If that’s a possible thing.
I always dreamed of having curls, desperately wanted to have them. But alas, all my friends with curly hair say “NO!”
I love this poem, and while the last stanza is lovely and as much an ode to your girls as your hair, I particularly love the synonyms for praise. Crazy, I know, but the words, the words!
This challenge was particularly fun and I have so enjoyed everyone’s poems. Well done curly-headed one!
What is it about all of us — always wanting what we don’t have? So silly…..
Liz, This is a beautiful poem–I love it! It’s Mary Oliver-esque to me in its language and passion. Almost *every* freaking line has a phrase I love, but the one that’s sticking with me right now is “An “ovation to the corkscrews of crazy.” Perfect.
Oh, thanks, Laura. That’s funny — it felt like I was just sort of goofing around so I’m glad it actually holds water 🙂
Oh, how I longed for an untamed mane as a kid! I used to try to tease my straight locks into a wild witch ‘do at Halloween and five seconds later, it would be as flat as boring broom straw. Sigh. This poem is an infectious corkscrew of words, all spiraling out and up in praise. Love it, and love the way it ends so joyfully with your daughters.
Thanks, Sara. You were teasing while I was flattening. Took awhile for us to just settle into it all, I guess 🙂
The only way to tame those curls is to have a sense of humor about them. Faboo ode, Liz! You are so right about everyone wanting what they don’t have. “corkscrews of crazy” = my favorite part :). You are too cool in that photo!
BTW, love your new site!
Oh, thanks, Jama! Corkscrews of crazy IS how it feels most of the time!
Oh, the exclamation marks! They are Dickensonian in their existence, and I adore them. And your exuberance (and that of your curls)!
ha ha! curls AS exclamation marks 🙂
Thanks, pal….
These odes have been so much fun to read today! I especially loved your “corkscrews of crazy” that behaved like bad Uncle Bruce, without an invitation. And your final stanza–how cool to connect your bold daughters to your untamed, unapologetic mop.
Thanks! There’s always a naughty uncle, isn’t there?
Love “wild and alive with audacity”! Isn’t it just so true that those with straight hair always want curls and vise versa? In the 60’s we just ironed our hair if it wasn’t like Cher’s.
Grass is always greener…. 😉
We should all celebrate what makes us unique! Go CURLS!
We should try, shouldn’t we?
Liz I adore this last stanza. Your roar is beautiful! I am another straight haired girl who always wanted curls. I’m learning.