By: Olivia Elliott
From the first day we met,
I knew you were the one for me.
When you were first called into my world,
You bounded forward
On your tiny,
Yet powerful, paws,
Happy as a pig in mud.
You trotted up, and
Proceeded to lick me,
And lick me,
And lick me,
Over and over with your warm, moist, incessant,
Pink tongue.
When I return home,
You greet me in the foyer,
My little brother,
Tags jingling like sleigh bells,
With your long, soft tail bringing up the rear,
And wagging with no end.
As you come, your beagle style ears flop,
Until you seat yourself at my feet,
And they transform into chihuahua ones,
As you look at me, giving me a silent, yet profound welcome.
Then I lie down beside you,
And you snuggle up to me,
Your furry coat of night
Warming me, as I cuddle you.
When you know it is time to eat,
You hover by your food bin,
And plead for sustenance,
Your endearing fawn colored eyes
Boring into my very soul.
Your lower lip quivers like the last leaf on a tree
About to fall,
And drool bubbles out like soap
In the corners of your mouth.
During walks together,
I talk to you
About what a good boy you are
And you tell me
What kind of nasty stuff you find
Under bushes and in piles of leaves.
You play with me too.
You romp around, perhaps with some toy
To tempt me with,
A treasure like no other in your eyes.
We tug, each battling for the prize.
In my eyes, though, Ross Boss,
You are the treasure,
You silly, wonderful goomba.
All who gaze upon you adore you.
You truly are a canine wonder.
Reflection:
1. The poem I chose to publish was my ode poem.
2. I chose Ross, my dog, as the subject of my ode because there is a lot to say about him, he’s adorable, and I love him very much.
3. The tone of my poem is loving.
4. The theme of my poem is that Ross is a wonderful and silly dog and is loved very much.
5. My first example of figurative language is my metaphor “you are the treasure”, and this contributes to the tone and theme development because it says that Ross is valuable to me. My second example of figurative language is my metaphor “my little brother”, and this contributes to the tone and theme development because this creates the image that Ross is really close to me.
6. The first way I revised this poem was adding “like sleigh bells” to create a sense of joy from Ross, who was entering the foyer to greet me. The second revision was moving “about to fall” to its own line to improve the flow of the poem.
7. I think it was really easy to write Ode to Ross because I have many wonderful experiences with him, and he is easy to compliment (on his silliness).
8. I am extremely satisfied with my final draft because I believe it has effective figurative language and carries my love for Ross into it.