Stine Writing and Miniatures

W3 Prompt #140: Wea’ve Written Weekly: Ode to My Father

W3 Prompt #140: Wea’ve Written Weekly
https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/01/01/w3-prompt-140-weave-written-weekly/

Heather’s prompt guidelines

  • Write an ode in praise of a person, place or thing.

Ode to My Father

There in a smallish room he stays
No longer knowing all the ways
He used to thrive
And so alive
But now he knows not but his name
Past and present seem the same
He seems happy
But that’s just me 
My visits are now short and sweet
A new adventure each time we meet
Does he know me?
I’ll wait and see
Always a great man, father, dad
A wonderful childhood I had 
Thoughts in my head
A full life he led
In not too long he’ll soon be gone
My memories I’ll rely upon
And make me smile
For a while

©2025 CBialczak

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  1. 1. Use quatrain stanzas. Classic odes (Pindaric and Horatian) use four-line stanzas known as quatrains. Irregular odes like Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” may deviate from this, but the most idiomatic phrasing of an ode should contain a stanza pattern with four lines per stanza.
  2. 2. Choose a grand or intensely personal subject. Depending on the style of the ode you are writing, your subject matter may vary, but in many cases, it should be big and bold. Pindaric odes pay tribute to gods and the majesty of nature, as is the case in Wordsworth’s “Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.” Horatian odes also contain larger-than-life subjects, but they tend to be more personal to the poem’s speaker, or perhaps even the poet themselves.
  3. 3. Be precise about the length of your lines. Pindaric odes typically have a fourth line that is shorter than the rest of the quatrain. Horatian odes typically have a third line that is shorter than the rest of the quatrain. If you are writing an irregular ode, you have more freedom, but a loose structure pushes odes closer to adjacent forms of poetry, such as the elegy.

27 comments

  9. Christine, what a heartfelt ode – dementia is so cruel as it slowly takes away, I feel the bitter-sweet in your ode of having him but not ….i have been here, I felt this immensely … conflicted with enjoying your beautiful poetry with the pain of acceptance 💕🙏🏻💕

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  10. Christine this is an upbeat ode about your father. The reality of dementia is that it is a thief of the future and present and nibbles away at the past. I hope you can still make some happy memories! Hugs!

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