Ode to Basketball

By Adam Clark

 

Swish!

It’s the sound of the net

After the ball goes through

It’s a sweet feeling

Nothing else can give you

It’s a weird sensation

When you break someone’s ankles

It’s a weird realization

Realizing that you are connected to a sport

Becoming a ball on a string

Practicing is like an addiction

The strive to get better

Is like a bear wanting honey

Making shots never gets old

The drive to get better never dies like a tortoise

And one person can never become perfect

Each day you can learn a new skill

Like adding another floor onto a skyscraper

Going to the park

And playing with friends

Is what I like to do on my weekends

When I think about doing something instead

The decision never quite makes sense

And you don’t have to be good

To have fun on the court

Because the sport is mostly for fun

Unless you are Kris Dunn

Then you have to be number one

When being the best is like finding a needle in a pile of hay

 

1. I typed and published an ode.

2. I chose basketball as my subject because it is something I care about a lot, therefore I thought it would be easy to write a meaningful piece about it.

3. The tone of my poem is enthusiastic.

4. The theme of my poem is working hard to be good at something is worth it because the positive benefit are worth the grind

5. Becoming a ball on a string is a metaphor, and it contributes to this poem because it properly illustrates how you can become attached to something and enjoy it. My second use of figurative language is “is like adding another floor onto a skyscraper”. This sentence shows how adding another skill can make you taller and taller, when the sky is the limit, you want to have as many floors(skills) as possible.

6. Revision #1 was I added the line “When being the best is like finding a needle in a pile of hay” because I wanted to add more detail on how hard it is to get to the top of the basketball world, because that is not an easy thing to do. Revision #2 was changing the word feeling into the word sensation in line six, because I didn’t want to give a sense of repititon in that part of the poem.

7. I thought it was very easy to write my poem, becasue I had a lot of background knowledge in the topic. I also care a lot about the sport, which gives inspiration when I write.

8. I am definitely satifised with my final draft, this might be the best poem I have ever written. I am not usually not known as a poet, and this was a step out of my comfort zone. This helped me learn that I can write a succesful poem.