When we begin to think about what an actual Ode is, asks: Are these things I can be grateful for?
Ode by Michael
Ode to the cell.
Ode to the street.
Ode to the concrete.
Ode to the toilet.
Ode to the sink.
Ode to the metal bunk.
Ode to the locker.
Ode to the gas chamber.
Ode to the lethal injection.
Ode to the electric chair.
Ode to the soul.
Ode to death row.
Ode to the hole.
Ode to the SHU.
Ode to the Ad-Seg.
Ode to the RHU.
Ode to the BMU.
Ode to the PHU.
Ode to the PIA.
Ode to the worker.
Ode to the chain gang.
Ode to the convict.
Ode to the convict lease.
Ode to the inmate.
Ode to the incarcerated person.
Ode to the Prison Industrial Complex.
Ode to the condemned.
Ode to the condemned in America.
Ode to the condemned worldwide.
Ode to the oppressed.
Ode to the repressed.
Ode to the distressed.
Ode to PTSD.
Ode to TSD.
Ode to the bipolar.
Ode to the mentally impaired.
Ode to the manic-depressive.
Ode to the asylum.
Ode to the schizophrenic.
Ode to the scared.
Ode to the fear.
Ode to the loss.
Ode to the misunderstood.
Ode to the understood.
Ode to the legal beagle.
Ode to the jailhouse lawyer.
When we start to think about these things for the incarcerated person in this environment, there’s a lot we should be grateful for. Our past has been shredded, and in order to truly understand what it is to be inside the prison industrial complex and its long history — a history that has not served the people well, or the citizens collectively — we must reflect. When we begin to think about what an actual Ode is, asks: Are these things I can be grateful for? It’s a thought-provoking question because it challenges you to think. Why would a person write an Ode to this particular thing, especially in this environment? But it’s in these themes, the struggle of the incarcerated, that the Ode finds its meaning. That’s my piece.
