Every poem speaks to every person differently, no matter if the intended meaning of the narrator pertains to them or not.. It is how one perceives a poem that makes it beautiful.
The poem I am sharing today is one that I wrote in one of my literature classes for my English Studies major. It is classified as an “ode” poem, which is a text that tends to praise a subject in its content. I went about praising the ages of 21 and older and some of its negative aspects rather than the positive ones. It is almost expected for an ode to be pleasant because it speaks highly of its subject. In my poem’s case, it has a slightly different technique.
ode to 21 and older
Growing up
means drinking alcohol
and going to bed
before 10 o’clock but
also waking up late
for work with
a throbbing headache that
lasts for at least 5 hours
the day after failing
the third pregnancy test in
the last 4 weeks which
should have been filled with
studying,
eating vegetables,
drinking water,
sleeping at least 224 hours,
calling Mom,
visiting Grandma, and
running on the treadmill not
away from responsibilities that,
last year, were exciting to think about
applying for that “big girl” job but instead
studying healthier alcoholic beverages,
eating French fries at 2 AM,
drinking water to avoid throwing up,
sleeping when the sun is up,
calling the ex,
visiting the ex, and
running away from responsibilities because
they aren’t exciting but because
they are scary and
so is being 21 and 22 and 23 and
older.