Dearest odes,
How wonderful it is
that a format exists
in that we might pay homage to things
we find homage-worthy.
Countless times have I walked the streets
and seen something that sparks my delight.
I say to myself,
"An ode I should write
so all will know that I find 'such and such'
remarkable
to the point that I wrote an ode about it."
A word three letters long.
Simple.
Pure.
To the point:
Ode.
To honor thee
A mere tribute would not do
(I scoff at tributes)
to sanctify the ode's ode-worthiness.
At the dawn of man's awareness
that he found things beautiful;
in my imagination
one man must have said to another,
"This thing I find beautiful..."
(a sunset, let's say)
"This sunset I find beautiful
and thus
I shall tell others of its beauty
but in poetic language
rather than just prose."
"Wait!" says the companion,
"Are you talking about all sunsets
or just
this particular one?"
"It matters not," the first returns,
"for I have discovered this ode
--this new thing of beauty--
a reflection of a beautiful thing
that is in and of itself
beautiful."
"Oh. I see," says the friend,
"Are you saying
that instead of calling a
'sunset' a 'sunset'
that we should
call it an 'ode' instead?"
(and it would kind of
make sense
that he would ask such a thing.
They were still
coming up with names
for things
around that time.
probably.)
"NO!
No!" retorts the beautifier.
"You're still not getting it!
I'll just write one
and show you what I'm talking about afterwards."
"I guess. but how can you
write
a sunset?"
"Nevermind," says the dreamer,
thinking about how he needs to find
some new friends.
But I digress.
And digression
does not an ode serve well.
for a well-written ode
should keep its subject at its focal point
and not go off
on some tangent.
So now I'll stop
so as to diminish odes in general
no further.
For the truest tragedy would be
for one to find all odes distasteful
based on
one shitty ode.
You're welcome.
