For New Dadas - a poem by Brady Bennon

Brady has been leading his students in writing poems based on a certain style, all of which start, "This is for my people," and then you decide who (for the purposes of this poem) your people are. He learned this in a writing class for teachers he took this summer, and wrote one then during the World Cup about being a soccer fan. The following poem he wrote a couple weeks ago to give his students an example, and I wanted to share it:

For New Dadas
By Brady Bennon

This is for my people,
who tell time in blueberries picked
blades of grass plucked
or bubbles blown
open-mouth kisses
piggyback rides
and picture books.
"One more,
one more, peez, before nigh nigh."

For people who let time tick away
while wiping nut-butter chins and jelly hands,
teary eyes and crusty noses
scraped knees and bruised shins.
For people who use boo-boo bear magic
and other spur-of-the-moment homeopathics.

This is for my people
who once again giggle when a blue plastic
seat stalls in mid-air before accelerating backwards.
Who relearn how to lift legs a bit
before zooming downward on a big red slide.
For my people who remember what it's like
to stare at wispy white tufts floating in a sea of blue
up above the trees.

For people who wear giddy, goofy smiles
while holding paper cups of nectar
anticipating a little squeel or screech
as zoo lorikeets fly down, perch, and sip.
That same anticipation beckons
lobster-pinch fingers
toward belly-button tummies,
or knees,
or toes
for tickles.

This is for my people,
the once-ragged workaholics
who are open to learning
life's most important lessons
from a nineteen-month-old.