Odd Rod

On April 4th 2012 Odd Rod came to the Corning Community College triangle lounge. The room was filled with cheering as he showed everyone his incredible talent. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He grew up in poverty, his mother was addicted to drugs and his dad was not in the picture. Through his experiences of being a kid and his pain and suffering he discovered that he had a natural talent for poetry. He sat down and just started writing. He said that he is a people poet. He doesn’t use big words to express his feelings. He spoke the poetry from his heart and he uses simple, easy to understand words to get his message across. He now travels around the country to colleges and speaks his poetry to encourage the talents and college students to not be afraid to be “odd” in their own way. An example of his work exactly as he wrote is:

“Priceless
On everything I believe and everything I say
I know I won’t be half the man that I have become today
If momma hadn’t been on drugs and daddy hadn’t strayed
I probably would’ve took less thoughts about the choices that I made
I’ve watched my piers throughout the years (who had both parents home)
Get everything they’d want as kids but suffer when there’re grown
I didn’t have that much back then I used to dream a lot
Those dreams had reached realities I’m blessed with what I got
I mean no harm in what I say I’m not the type to brag
It’s just I appreciate the times when “times were bad”
I appreciate the poverty I am thankful for the pain
I know I’ll defeat them both if they returned again
I am stronger than the average man in fact, I am more unique
I speak with good intentions but I’ll show I’m from the streets
So when you see the fancy wheels the latest jewels or clothes
Know I care less for them my past is valued most
My struggle turned to be a gift it made a man of me
For if I hadn’t gone through that I’m not sure who’d I be”

He was an uplifting, extremely enjoyable, educational experience.