Several years ago, while visiting my daughter in Webster Groves MO, I read in the local weekly newspaper about a new type of poem called the ZIP Ode. This is a 5- (or 9-)line poem, based on a person's ZIP Code, that describes the poet's home place.

This is the poem's format:
Each line consists of the number of words that match each consecutive digit of the ZIP Code. For example, if your ZIP is 32079, then the first line would contain 3 words, the second line 2 words, the third line would be blank, the fourth line would have 7 words, and the fifth line 9 words. If you would like a longer poem, you can use ZIP + 4.

Here is the ode I wrote for my home:

ZIP Ode for 33813

Polk County Florida
My home location
High, but not always dry, on Lakeland Ridge
Elevation:
Two hundred feet

Try your hand at this and post your odes under this thread. I am interested to see where the readers of this forum live.


Georgiana Kurtz, Florida Editor
Florida Website
Florida Forum