What if the city you were searching for was also searching for you? Soul as a City (Ode Oakland) follows Jonah Tarver through West Oakland’s shoreline, port and memories. What begins as a haunting pursuit becomes a homecoming and reminder that Oakland is not just a city. Presented in association with West Oakland Matters and connected to I Was, Am, Will Be. Learn more at www.jrrice.com and www.westoaklandmatters.org.
Listen, respond, and join the call-and-response sections.
Directions: Open the PDF link to download the worksheet.
Oakland is more than a backdrop. It is a witness, a memory and a living soul. In Soul as a City (Ode Oakland), writer and performer J.R. Rice transforms the Middle Harbor shoreline into a surreal landscape where a poet is pursued by an unseen presence.
The short film follows Jonah Tarver, a young Black poet from Oakland, arrives at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park feeling lost and disconnected from himself. As the poet moves through the shoreline, port structures, observation tower and a lone tree overlooking the Bay, an unseen presence follows him. What first feels threatening is gradually revealed as Oakland’s spirit, the memory, the grief, the hope, all calling Jonah back to his voice.
Featuring original spoken-word music produced by Lax the Monk, the short film honors West Oakland while opening the door to the larger I Was, Am, Will Be film and poetry collection, continuing Jonah’s journey from Broken Pencils.
Watch the official trailer for “Soul as a City (Ode Oakland),” an original spoken-word short film written, directed, and performed by Oakland author and poet J.R. Rice (@imjrice). The film will make its official premiere this Sunday, 7/26, at West Fest 2026 organized by @westoaklandmatters.
Soul as a City (Ode Oakland) follows Jonah Tarver through West Oakland’s shoreline, port and memories. What begins as a haunting pursuit becomes a homecoming and reminder that Oakland is not just a city. Presented in association with West Oakland Matters and connected to I Was, Am, Will Be.
Audience Reflection & Independent Writing Guide
Directions: Open the PDF link to download the worksheet.
What if the city
Your soul was searching for
Was also searching for you?
A short film, spoken-word song, and multimedia project by J.R. Rice, exploring this ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can a place, person, or thing carry a soul—and what can it reveal about us?
“Soul as a City (Ode Oakland)” is a spoken-word love letter to the city that raised me. Through memories of Oakland’s shoreline, port, people, pain, and perseverance, this poem explores what it means for a place to become part of your identity, and how returning home can help you rediscover who you were, are, and will be.
Directions: Open the PDF link to download the worksheet
Inspired by "Langston Hughes’s “Life is Fine,” participants use comparison, repetition, vivid images, and a turning point to write about life, struggle, survival, or choosing a new direction.
Trigger Warning: The poem includes references to emotional crisis and suicide. You may write personally, fictionally, or about a character. You never have to share private experiences aloud.
Copyright © 2026 J.R Rice - All Rights Reserved.
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