The Poets We Return To is a Wednesday series on Ethical ELA, featuring writers reflecting on the poets whose words they return to and the ways those poems continue to work on their lives, teaching, and writing.

We continue today with Barb Edlers’s essay.

Spellbound: The Art of Sharon Olds

If you have never read Olds’ poetry, I highly recommend reading a few because her poetry is frank, provocative, and astute. Her experiences are relatable, unique and inspiring. I return to her work because it is like peering into my own dark crevices, and I know I am going to be deeply moved by her diction, fresh images, surprising turns, and compelling voice. 

Several of her poems can be found online such as at the Poetry Foundation which includes a poem from The Gold Cell titled “I Go Back to May 1937”.  In this poem, Olds describes her parents and reveals their abuse, a recurring theme Olds explores in her work. Olds also writes odes and “Ode of Girls’ Things” is available at Poetry.org.

Olds has published thirteen poetry collections. One of my favorites is The Gold Cell which offers a wide range of personal poetry that candidly explore sex, first loves, motherhood and the female experience. Although several of her poems in this volume have simple titles such as “First Love” and “The Twin,” it is also packed with provocative ones such as “After 37 Years My Mother Apologizes for My Childhood,” “The Pope’s Penis,” and “Outside the Operating Room of the Sex Change Doctor.” When I opened this collection, I immediately read the poem about the sex change doctor. It begins with a stark image: a tray of penises and “There is no blood”. Each penis gives voice to their situation such as “I was a dirty little dog, I knew he’d have me/ put to sleep” and ends with the only unhappy penis crying out, “Father, Father!” I love this poem because of these wonderful voices which made me pause and think about the harm a penis can cause and the life that it can produce. Plus, the poem is both provocative and humorous. 

My favorite Olds’ poem is “The Quest” which begins with “The day my girl is lost for an hour.” Immediately, the tension draws the reader into the narrator’s actions and emotions who walks her neighborhood streets while staring into the eyes of strangers, searching for abusers and the culprit who has taken her daughter. Someone who would “un-/do her, find strand by fine/ strand.” She uses this soft image of her daughter and contrasts it with harsh objects she envisions behind “cock-eyed buildings massive as prisons…. buildings full of rope, /ironing boards, sash, iron, /iron cords woven in black and blue spirals like/ razor-blades and lye.” Tools one might use to torture her precious daughter. Old’s diction is striking and visceral, and her poem stays with me because I am haunted by the evil that exists in our world, knowing that there are those who think nothing of abusing children.  

What really makes this poem stand out is the fact that the poet is expecting to find someone filled with rage, but this doesn’t occur. Instead, the narrator states “I cannot/ see a soul who would do it…” and then she remembers the time her parents tied her to a chair and when she looked into their eyes all she saw was “goodness.” Each line develops a rapid pace of fear and angst that left me feeling hollow, breathless and heartbroken.

Another of my favorite Olds’ poetry collections is Odes. I highly recommend this volume because her odes celebrate everyday objects, intriguing situations, and personal attributes such as “Celibate’s Ode to Balls.” Every time I read this one, I smile, especially at the end when Olds writes “…I knew that some/ would laugh when I said it, ‘I love balls,’/ and others would groan with me a moment, missing them.” Other gems in this collection include “Ode to the Penis,” “Ode to the Condom,” and “Douche-Bag Ode.” All of these are frank, fun, and full of clever metaphors such as “white-jacketed worker who clears the table” and “secret keeper,” from “Ode to the Tampon.”

The last poem in Odes is the “Abracadabra Ode,” a concrete poem shaped as a woman’s pelvis. I love this playful poem and particularly enjoyed the line “like a mound of Venus. Could it heal us? Could our prayers/ be heard: abracadabra from…” This poem reminds me of a moment that occurred in a history class years ago when the instructor, an elderly nun, said, “Never underestimate the power of a woman.”

Sharon Olds’ poetry is honest, raw and clear. I am always blown away by the shifts in her poetry and how she can manipulate a powerful impact whether it is alarming or whimsical. She inspires me to craft sharp images, to choose words that blister or sing, and to create a strong voice that resonates. My strongest desire when writing is to leave the reader with an emotional impact that connects to their lives and experiences. Sharon Olds poetry does all of that and more and in honor of her craft, I wrote the following ode.

Ode to Sharon Olds

Celebrate a firestorm of words
frank, honest, raw.
Bring private parts alive
on a tray outside the operating room
where hacked off penises voice their varied stories.
Or illustrate the power of womanhood
through a concrete shape anyone can recognize.
Dig deep into the past.
Speak truths about abuse
the pain of childhood
the pain of motherhood.
Above all things
be honest
be true.

Sharon Olds will celebrate her 84^th birthday on November 19, 2026. I hope you have the time to read a few of her poems. Happy reading and writing, Friends.

The Poets We Return To continues each Wednesday on Ethical ELA. Explore the series or write about a poet you return to.