Review: “Ode to Fathers” by Rudolph Ruddapoet

Personally, I have never listened to a poem so rich in metaphors like Ruddapoet’s Ode to Fathers. The expresses extensively the poet’s sadness as he laments how men have failed as men. At some point, I wondered why the piece wasn’t “Woe to Father” instead. The poem is well furnished also with amazingly used similes and puns which hold it’s listeners spellbound for more than 5 minutes.

Ruddapoet begins by throwing shots at men who have failed as fathers and men who have chosen the path of drunkenness.
“This is an ode to the fathers who never showed their sons the end of their rainbows,
To those fathers who lied, those who never try,
And those who always defile…”
“Those who have become drunken trunks
Because their roots are soaked in rum…”

The poem then proceeds to men who get women pregnant and deny their children afterwards; “…to fathers who have forgotten their fruits
The ones they denied fatherhood and gave them into the oblivion of nothingness.”
The lines: “fruits who do not know what tree to be,
What grounds to grow or what rains to obey…,” implies that most of these children whose fathers deny them, grow up without guidance, thereby leading to uncertainty of purpose mixed with rejection

Men who molest and sexually abuse minors are not spared by the poet either,;
“Our fear are for our daughters and our sons
To those fathers who find pleasure in visiting every cervix ,
They take on every sun(son)
And bury their crescent moon in their anus.

“…who would not go to sleep,
They say only them are custodians of the society,
So when they should rest they would prefer to roll…”
Is directed at old politicians who have refused to leave and let the young ones lead.

The poem ends with the Ruddapoet talking about his own father; the things he had told him and the advice on how the children should be raised.

Rudolph Ruddapoet is undoubtedly one of the best performance poets in the country, winning multiple slams and awards and also performing on several platforms including TedEx.

Younglan Louis