A word that just sounds loud, doesn’t it? Obstreperous means noisy, unruly, difficult to control—perfect for something wildly absurd!
I wanted this to feel like a storm of sound, a chaotic anthem to all things disruptive. So I leaned into big, punchy lines, internal rhymes, and repetition that builds momentum—almost like a chant.
There’s also a lot of absurdity because, let’s be real, true chaos isn’t just loud, it’s weird.
Ode to the Obstreperous
(A Spoken Word Rampage)
Oh, obstreperous!
Breaker of peace, slammer of doors—
You stomp through the silence,
flip tables, spill floors.
You are the boom in the whisper,
the clang in the hush,
the wind that won’t whisper—
it shoves, it crushes!
Sirens and cymbals are jealous of you.
Toddlers take notes on the things that you do.
You howl at the moon ‘til it packs up and leaves,
You teach parrots to gossip,
you make echoes deceive.
You don’t knock—
you kick down the door with a grin.
You don’t enter a room,
you storm right in.
You don’t “sit still”—
you vibrate, combust!
You don’t “tone it down”—
you say “IN CHAOS WE TRUST!”
Oh, ruckus and riot, oh, clamorous beast,
The bassline of mischief, the life of the feast!
They beg you for quiet, they plead for some peace—
But silence is boring.
So NEVER. RETREAT.
(c) Eric Montgomery
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