Ode to Porchfest

My poem to celebrate the event

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 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