Weekly Poetry Challenge Week Two: Ode
Write some odes with us this week!
Welcome to Week Two of the 2025 Read, Discuss, Do Weekly Poetry Challenge! For this week’s challenge we are singing the praises of the ode!
An ode is a poem that praises or celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. Odes can be very formal, often using ceremonial or flowery language. They can also be quite long. But poets are great at making their own rules, so your ode can be formal or not, rhyming or not, long or not! The only thing the ode should be is celebratory!
This week we are hoping that you will:
Read: Ode poems, such as this example or one of the books listed below.
Ode to a Shade Tree
Sugar maple tree,
you stand tall and strong
in the corner of the yard
arms outstretched protectively.
Your green leaves—
like miniature parasols—
shimmer in the breeze
allowing no more than pinpricks of light
through your sheltering canopy.
You are a place to rest
on a hot summer day
the bed of green grass at your feet
kept soft and cool by the protection
of your leaves.
And in the fall my eyes are drawn
to your red and gold garbed branches.
I love to lie there, looking up
into the filtered golden sunlight
which I like to think you captured just for me
to save my eyes from staring
at the sun.
by Rebecca J. Gomez
Discuss:
What do you think of ode poems?
Had you heard about odes before?
What do you think might be the most challenging thing about writing odes?
Can you think of anything or anyone that would be a good subject for an ode?
Do: Write your own ode!
Here are some tips for writing an ode:
Start by writing a list of possible subjects for your ode. What are some ordinary things that have meaning to you? What are some places you especially enjoy visiting? Or people that are important to you?
Choose something from your list and write another list of reasons why that person, place, or thing is special or praiseworthy.
When writing your ode, imagine addressing your subject directly to tell it why it is special to you.
Learn more about the ode from The Poetry Foundation.
Books about odes
Note: Some links will take you to the Read, Discuss, Do bookshop.org storefront. Purchasing a book from the storefront will support independent bookstores and help maintain Read, Discuss, Do at no additional cost to you.
Ode to a Bad Day By Chelsea Lynn Wallace
This story is exactly as the title suggests–an ode to all the annoying things that happen to the main character throughout her day to make it bad. Yet it’s what we do at the end of the day that helps us decide if the pattern will continue. Enjoy this poetic romp through a rough day.
Ode to an Onion: Pablo Neruda and His Muse by Alexandria Giardino, illustrated by Felicita Sala
This is a story about poet Pablo Neruda and how his relationship with Matilde Urrutia influenced his poetry. This story was inspired in part by his poem, Ode to the Onion, which you can find at the back of the book.
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James
Especially relatable to the older picture book readers, this poetic book is a celebration of how a fresh haircut can give you confidence and put a spring in your step.
Ode to Grapefruit: How James Earl Jones Found His Voice by Kari Lavelle, illustrated by Bryan Collier
A lyrical story about how poetry and performing arts helped actor James Earl Jones, known for his unique voice, overcome his stutter and gain confidence as a speaker and performer. And it started with a poem he wrote in school titled Ode to a Grapefruit.
Will you be writing odes this week? If you do, we’d love to see them! You can reply to this message, email us, or tag us on Instagram (use the hashtag #RDDPoetryMonth). We will be sharing some readers’ poems in a round-up post at the end of the month, so if you’d like your poems to be considered, please let us know when you send them.
Have fun writing odes, fellow poets!