An ode celebrates a person, animal, or object.

An ode roast does the opposite.  An ode roast is a diss or insult poem.

They wait under Pablo’s bed,
rain-beaten, sun-beaten,
a scruff of green
at their tips
from when he fell
in the school yard.
He fell leaping for a football
that sailed his way.
But Pablo fell and got up,
green on his shoes,
with the football
out of reach.

Now it’s night.
Pablo is in his bed listening
to his mother laughing
to the Mexican novelas on TV.
His shoes, twin pets
that snuggle his toes,
are under the bed.
He should have bathed,
but he didn’t.
(Dirt rolls from his palm,
blades of grass
tumble from his hair.)

He wants to be
like his shoes,
a little dirty
from the road,
a little worn
from racing to the drinking fountain
a hundred times in one day.
It takes water to make him go,
and his shoes to get him
there.  He loves his shoes,
cloth like a sail,
rubber like
a lifeboat on rough sea.
Pablo is tired,
sinking into the mattress.
His eyes sting from
grass and long words in books.
He needs eight hours
of sleep
to cool his shoes,
the tongues hanging out
exhausted.

“Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes” by Gary Soto

Ode Roast to Math Homework
– by Ian S. 09

Although you are lauded by some,
I despise your numbers.
I strongly dislike your page full of numbers.
All these long words that you use gives me a headache.
Your pages and pages of symbols, numbers, and words make me dizzy.
How you work your problems out are sometimes frustrating.
When I hear your name, I want to blow you up.
When I see your numbers and symbols, I want to stomp on them.
If my eyes look at you, they give you the death glare.
If I think about you, my brain gets filled with pain.
Sometimes, you make my day go slow.
I see you everywhere.
It’s like you’re haunting me.

Ode Roast to Secrets
– anonymous

Although you are lauded by some,
I despise your dishonesty.
You hurt others on the inside
and cause tears to form,
hearts to break
and trust to be taken away.
You put knives in the hands of friends
which come in handy for stabbing in the back.
You cause paranoia and fear.
You create deceit
and plant plant those melancholic feeling
in our heads to grow.

Ode Roast to My Big Toe
– by Caitlyn C. 09

I despise how you bend down like you’re a tree limb.
Your fat toenail always grows into my skin.
You always hit the coffee table on your way by,
causing me a lot of pain!
You grow like a horse’s tail.
You’re so non-moisturized that every time lotion is applied to you, you get dry again!
You could be cut of and NOBODY would miss you.
Your stupid reflexes got my nice new jeans ripped,
and you make me clumsier than I already am!

Ode Roast to Rap
– by Riley W. 08

Although you are lauded by some,
I despise your way you saw bad words after every word.
how I can’t understand a word you say,
how you talk about violence,
how you make me feel,
the way you put people down.