Video Game - Jason

On the writing

The prospect of writing an ode I found a little daunting.  Many of them are quite long, some have very specific rhythms.  All in all, it seemed this would make for hard work.  To ease this a little bit I used Keats, Ode to a Nightingale as my model, because he is a little freer with the rhythm.  Note of interest, before this writing, Keats was on my list of poets I greatly dislike.  Anyway, I have tried to imitate his style, although there are parts is is pretty far off, in this my Ode to Pac-Man.

OK, one more quick note.  The rhyme structure in this is ABAB CDECDE, so it helps get the sound down if you try to read it stringing them like this: AB-AB-CDE-CDE.  It is going to sound wrong, until you get the feel of that.  Sorry, now back to the poem.

Ode to Pac-Man

Toru Iwatani at Namco thinks
Sixteen colored thoughts in eight bit design.
From his shell white cup, he tea drinks
While his mind escapes Japan of ‘79.
O for the release of the one called Cutie Q,
So his head could unlock the brand new plot
of side to side ships or swinging through trees;
Unsure of what to do.
Only so much could be done with a dot
But drawing on parchment provided his ease.

O, for a clear direction! He was lost
in labyrinthine hopes and the sudden end.
Perhaps this nightmare was not the cost
but divine inspiration to which his will would bend.
Oh how his twisted thoughts became the electric lair
Where blue walls force choices of left and right
And then the mighty stage was given birth;
Creator became player.
Image upon image revealed a maze-bound fight
Where lighted treasure and dark escape gave mirth.

Fading dreams of serpentine halls seemed broken
And incomplete without some lurking creature.
The joy of conquest was what drew the token
So, Toru knew he would have to add this feature.
Each foe unique, some slower, some quicker
Protecting their treasure until the hero dies,
A single touch destroys and on they roam
But movement caused a flicker.
So goblins turn to colored haunts with rolling eyes;
Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, were home.

Pakku! Pakku! For I will so name thee,
Named not for strength, but sounds of slapping lips.
A hero with a flaw, not greed but gluttony
And his food would spend a lifetime on the hips.
Withdrawal that last line by the absence of leg
For the rendering must not take an Hour;
His completed form, a bright yellow puck
Just a mouth which will beg.
No maiden to save, just pellets of power
And fruit from no tree which to pluck.

Envision the gameplay for our shining hero
And how the specters give chase in the maze.
Player controlling, building points from zero
Clearing the pac dots while onlookers praise.
Choose up, no down, like a creature wild
Consuming the all until everything changes
And Clyde alters hue and then tries to leave,
A startled blue child.
With no new tool the eater’s diet arranges
For something of ether and pride to retrieve.

Fan bases endure for only a time
While waiting for shiny, new, hotness revealed.
Critics remarked it was simply sublime
To young player and old it appealed.
Success propelled the character into air
And free of normal constraint. To cereal
And toys, cartoons played morning and night
To live a life that was rare.
In my heart he remains ethereal,
Beyond expectations for a canary sprite.

So they gathered together in might hordes
To see who was the best of the best.
They stood before cabinets, eating dots they adored
So at the end one could beat on their chest.
Billy became first to a perfect game
In ‘99 with an American tie
While the other competitors fell away
The title was his to claim,
Toru was just a developer guy
But it was Pac-man who carried the day.

Forlorn! The feeling one gets when all is gone
And mazy meals fade to phantasmagoria.
When the next quarter can only elicit a yawn
as victory fails to bring euphoria.
Adieu! Adieu! As under winter shades
Which cause mankind to often wander south,
But Pakku sees cars and guns that can
Bring light to dim arcades.
What hope remains when limited to a mouth?
None! Until Bad Dudes becomes Ms. Pac-Man!