I was honored when Dave Dumas, one of the hosts at the Shelburne Falls Porch Music Festival, offered me a challenge to write an Ode to Porchfest. I would read it that day, July 13, before the lineup of musicians performed. He didn’t tell me how or what to write. But with that title, I figured it should be in poetic form.
To be honest, it’s been many, many years since I’ve written a full-length poem. I did write brief ones in my Isabel Long Mystery Series for a character, Cary Moore, a highway worker who wrote poetry good enough for a big shot poet to steal.
But a full-length ode? I would need to do some research.
According to the Poetry Foundation, an ode is “a formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea.” Likely the most famous is John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” Written in 1819, the language is a bit flowery by today’s standards. Here’s how it starts: “Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness.”
Eh, not my style although there are two lines I repeat throughout my ode that have similar language. I knew I wanted the poem to rhyme, so that was another test. I also chose to abbreviate the event’s title to Porchfest.
I took my time, revisiting the poem each day to add more lines or to revise another or just read it aloud. I wanted to include Porchfest’s history, including how it came to Shelburne Falls, the mythical village where I live in Western Mass. Plus, I wrote lines about what was generally scheduled to happen that day and specifically, on the porch of Dave and Susanne Hynes’s house on Green Street on the Buckland side.
I kept the poem a secret until today at noon when I read it aloud. I timed the release of this post to come after that. And here it is below.
ODE TO PORCHFEST
Music, music all around
On the porches in our towns
People walk amid the choices
Lured by instruments and voices
O Porchfest
Thou art the best.
In 2007, Ithaca’s the first
Lesley Greene and Gretchen Hildreth
Both saw its worth
An afternoon of song
People strolling along
O Porchfest
Thou art the best.
Now Porchfest is in many states
Even Canada, that’s great
The total so far is 232
And on different days, that’s true
O Porchfest
Thou art the best.
The Village’s Porchfest has its fifth year
Thanks to Dorothy Strano-Bennett who brought it here.
She was only thirteen
And a resident of Queens.
Grateful for the welcome during the plague
Her grandmother’s State Street porch became a stage
Masks were on the musicians that day
When people came to watch them play.
O Porchfest
Thou art the best.
Dorothy’s dad Paul Bennett took charge
Since then the festival has grown large
Here are the facts:
Over 70 acts.
Hundreds of artists are performing today
Rock, jazz, soul, and reggae
Poetry, prose and joke
Acoustic, experimental, and folk.
If you’re keeping score
On porches, yards, in front of stores
At restaurants and clubs
The Mill, Water Street Barn, and Floodwater brew pub
O Porchfest
Thou art the best.
We’re here on Green Street with Susanne and Dave
Who’ve created a program of music to crave
Indie rock with Brook Bateau
Honest folk with Bob Chabot
Matt Price’s intricate songs
Yes, this lineup is very strong
Kevin Keady, a satirical folkie
Ralph Carson, our favorite Okie
And Jack Dwyer, who sings and swings
Thank you all for the music you bring
O Porchfest
Thou art the best.
So, on July 13, 2025
The festive spirit continues to thrive
Enjoy what you hear
Expect more next year
O Porchfest
Thou art the best.