How to Bring Your Cleantech Colleagues to Tears in a Divebar While You're Standing on Top of the Bar Reading a Poem
How to write a poem (an ode) honoring teamwork making the (clean energy) dream work
How To Ode a Work Colleague Guide
I’m going to share how to write a touching tribute to a work colleague, from how I taught myself: by toasting good wishes to folks at happy hours.
But first, you’re asking: why in the soul-sucking professional world would you want to write a colleague a poem? Why, to spit some soul back into this beautiful world— of course. Years after day-to-day work minutia and administrivia, what will we remember about the places we invest so much time? People. Relationships. Impact. And what better way is there to appreciate folks and all they give?
From my experience, even the smallest, limerick-length ode, haiku, or couplet can go a long way to show the people who make an impact how much they matter. An ode can do so much more, though. An ode can memorialize growth, time-capsule good times, and preserve inside jokes. Maybe your first impression wasn’t the greatest— well, OK: this ode is your opportunity to stun with a last (for now) impression. Through ode-ing people you work with, you’ll grow your gratitude, get more creative, and strengthen your writing abilities. Atop it all, you’ll make someone smile and feel appreciated. Flexing the biggest muscle this economy will take from you: your attention.
Unfortunately, so many people don’t see the relevance of poetry, or are afraid it’s not for them. Here are a few reasons why:
We’ve been trained to hide our hearts at work
Sharing how we feel is good, actually. But people see vulnerability as weakness because
Misogyny
Homophobia
Stoicspremacy
All of the feels are— admittedly hard!
Life's hard. Focusing your thoughts can guide your feelings, which is to say— you'll feel amazing while writing someone something amazing. By reflecting on the good times, trying out elements of poetry, and revising for performance, you’ll get to revisit all the shine your colleague shared and re-form it as a gift back to them. I'm going to show you how to use all of this to speak from, and to, the heart, where it's most forbidden: work.
Here's how, step by step:
Step 1: Write-up a list describing your colleague's impact
Write down everything that come to mind when you think about this person: their title(s), what they did, projects, events, meetings, sidebars, off-sites, achievements— their impact, how they helped you, how you worked together, how you spent downtime, etc. The goal is volume— so don’t let yourself get stuck. Tip: find your colleague’s initial introductory information, maybe on a welcome email you can surface, and turn those details into a story of their journey and growth.
Catch as many tiny tidbits as possible, sights, senses, sounds, drawing out details as vividly as possible. As you’re listing, note what stands out— maybe that memory of spilling coffee in the break room they helped you clean up forms the basis of your ode, starts the opening, or feels like an analogy for how their impact spread. Example: for a colleague who led some desk yoga exercises for the team, I wrote their farewell ode formed as a yoga breathing exercise.
Any often-used references, metaphors, allusions or inside jokes shine bright in poems like these. Regardless, starting from a list is the perfect beginning to an ode (or really any poem). I’ve written a number of work colleague odes that are catalogs of greatness. Remember: Be specific, painting pointillistic sensory details into your list to emphasize the unique specificity of what you have to say.
“The poet is a professor of the five senses and opens doors among them.” — Lorca.
Step 2: Re-tell, re-imagine, re-structure, & re-mix
Now that you have a strong start, don’t get stuck where so many others fall-off, dwelling in fear of even trying. Motivation: all it takes to call yourself a poet is writing one poem— give it a shot! Like any new skill, you’ll grow from jumping in and messing around. Just have fun!
Here are your elements of poetry to play around with: story, imagination, structure, and music. Here are ways you can try them out and join them:
Re-tell:
Once upon a time, everyone starts somewhere, then you face great odds, then you overcome, and now, I thank you for your impact.There can and should be many sagas on the way, and your ode can use elements of storytelling such as drama, plot, setting, characters, and point of view, to weave your tale.
If the story you’re telling aligns with a reference or allusion, to pop culture or mythology or something else interesting, why not weave that reference in— and expand? Example: for my first zoom farewell ode in 2020, the changing nature of thanking/honoring folks reminded me of the Greek myth, the Ship of Theseus. I leaned in there to expand, which I combined with the metaphor of the best cleantech orgs are renewable powered smartgrids. Combining the allusion and metaphor gave me my storyframe: The Grid of Theseus, or how the best cleantech orgs are smart grids we’re making and remaking ourselves.
Re-imagine:
Imagine the greatest praise you could gift someone. Maybe you’re hearing trumpets flare, or a whole parade following the rear. Now, write that down! However hyperbolic a compliment might sound, in an ode, all praise stacks. So each bit is a brick of vision in the tower you’re building and sharing, reflecting the positive impact you’ve gotten from this person. You can use your imagination applied to your list to expand or apply ideas in unique ways, literally, however you imagine it.
Studies on poetic image and its feature in phenomenology define imagination as thee faculty that produces poetic image. Characterized with spontaneity, suddenness, and novelty, Imagination has the capacity to create new meanings in language, similar to imagination in relation to metaphor (see the Grid of Theseus example above).
“One Power alone makes a Poet: Imagination. The Divine Vision.” — William Blake
Re-structure:
The Structure, literal shape, or Poetic Form of your ode varies based on what you’re trying to say; that’s something silly it took me WAY too long to understand in my poetry journey. Different forms do different things. Oh, okay… duh! You see a lot of Sonnets that are love poems, because the poetic form of Sonnets are structured to argue for romantic love. You see a lot of pastoral-sounding haiku, because the poetic form of Haiku are structured to observe the self in nature.
While form won’t be the first thing that comes to mind for new poets, where it really surfaces is when considering how you’ll present your ode. Looking at a large stacked list, you may see opportunity to break lines differently, insert spacing to create shape or spaces for pauses, or create columns for it all to fit onto a single page. What I’ve learned after writing so many of these types of odes: structure matters the least of these elements. A long-standing list of imaginative praise filled with similes and inside jokes generally looks OK… as a large stacked list. Can be easier to read in a crowded bar, too.
Examples: Maybe you went to bars a lot with this person you’re ode-ing, why not form it as a Toast? “To closing times, to succeeding at this & your next enterprise, to your every tequila sunrise…” OR maybe this person you’re ode-ing was known for being scatterbrained— could scattering the list in a presentable way across a page further align form and function?
Re-mix:
The last element I’ll give you, Musicality, is likely the first you think of when it comes to poetry: comprised of Rhyme, Alliteration, Meter, Assonance, Dissonance, Enjambment, Syntax, and more— these join to make the ways your words sound together. You’ll get the soundflow of your ode reading aloud, so at a certain place in drafting, you’ll want to read aloud often.
Try mixing in different elements of musicality in areas that you may stumble over or pause at when reading aloud— so much of the time, those stumbles are a tell for areas to address in your poem. Inspiration: listen to your favorite (sung) songs while reading the lyrics. Maybe even try rewriting your poem in a lyric form (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, or an alt), playing with the musical elements to delight.
Step 3: Read aloud as if you're sharing live. Does it make you smile?
I always like to step back and do another activity between drafts. But once you’re ready to get back to finishing you ode, start by reading it out-loud. Does it make you smile? Imagine yourself where you’ll be when you share— maybe over zoom, or a bar, or at the office. Read aloud again. Any new ideas spark to pull-in from your setting? Any edits to better incorporate poetic elements listed above? Make your changes as they inspire. Now, read your ode aloud again.
“If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.” —Emily Dickinson
Finally, comes your moment to gift your offering to your colleague. Time to serve! Of course, presentation is everything at this point, and practice makes perfect to get all your beats, emphasized words, and the flow of your rhythm down.
For more pragmatic poem gifting advice, make multiple copies, one as the gift for your oded-one to read along, and another for you to read-from to ode them. Use your setting to your advantage as much as possible— if you’re performing this over zoom, consider an inside-joke zoom background, or put yourself in a coffee house for a more traditional poetry reading.
If you’re in-person, REMEMBER to PROJECT, ENUNCIATE, and READ SLOWLY. Face your colleague as you’re reading to them. If you’re at a bar— why not figure-in a moment to raise a glass to them. And of course go ahead and jump atop that bar (be careful!) to really disrupt folks’ expectations and give a thrilling send-up.
“One of my secret instructions to myself as a poet is: “Whatever you do, don’t be boring.” — Anne Sexton
I should probably mention this little caveat— it’s going to be naturally inspiring to honor your colleagues’ impact when the work you do together goes towards a better world for all. If you’re interested in working for clean energy for everyone, everywhere— check out our careers page. Who knows! Maybe you’ll get an ode from me one day.
Some examples of poems for (clean energy) colleagues:
I mentioned this one as an example earlier, written as a farewell to a group of folks
Here’s one addressed as a farewell for a Customer Care leader
Here’s one addressed as a farewell for a Sales team leader
One thing I must admit: goodbye poems can be sad! I’ve trended away from farewells, for another reason, because it’s not a sustainable practice at a fast-growing org. It can cause a lot of dwelling on bittersweetness.
So now, I find forward-looking moments to celebrate— the close of projects or initiatives, off-sites, birthdays, anniversaries — to incorporate some prepared words as a poem. I find this helps to create a collective focus, sharing our humanity, invoking everyone’s belonging. Even just for a short moment, you’ll find a lot of value in centering a group on your poetry.
Here are some examples of positive progress odes
