Ode to My Mind (Irregular Ode)

Since it’s poetry month, I thought I would try out some new forms and I bumped into a great blog post from A Different Perspective listing out 13 poetic form prompts. A big thanks to them for the inspiration

Prompt 7

Write an Irregular Ode poem or

Write a poem using the words “spy” and “deep”

A Different Perspective by muisopsis

An Irregular Ode can really take any form or shape. The main principle is that it is a poem in appreciation of something.

For this time I’m going to share a poem that I wrote when I was just starting to write creatively in 2020 and has never found a home till now. I don’t know about its poetic value in representing the form, but its vulnerable and my story and I would like to share.

This time around I will pass on including the optional prompt words. I thought about modifying the original poem to accommodate them, but I decided against it. While I did make some modifications (mostly an extension of the poem), pulling in the prompts didn’t seem to fit naturally.

Ode to My Mind

A lover, once against me
Your pain overwhelmed
With savage intensity.

You took my sanity
Eagerly exhausting
Any sense of reality.

I tried to escape
Drugging, boozing, and sexing
To a slow death.

The bottom hit,
Brutally battered and bruised
I finally let go with a breath.

I arose from the depths
Step by slow step accepting
I was broken but worthy.

I came to learn your pain
Was a desperate cry for help,
A memory repressed, unhealthy.

An enemy, now partner
We’ve made our amends
Together we’ve found our way.

Our memories not forgotten
But they’re no longer hiding
Together we work them out each day.

A partner and a friend
I’m so grateful for your patience
Now, Together let us play.

So, what do you think about this poem or the Irregular Ode form? I find it a nice approach to expressing gratitude and appreciation poetically with freedoms and flexibility and use it not infrequently. How about you? Do you want to give it a try?

Be well,

Monty

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