Page 9 - Contrast2008

Kara Constantine

Ode to Jadyn Brooke

Strangest of my siblings,
absorbed in SpongeBob's porous, yellow
world, you sit while I practice French,
plaiting and unplaiting your limp white
hair. Pleased to peals
of giggles with the braids, you wander
the room holding them in the air.
When I ask what you're doing,
you say, like I should know,
"Broadcasting."

Sticky palm thrust
at me, you offer a different animal
sticker on each fingertip. Hopeful
eyes beg me to take one,
take the platypus, the echidna-
take them all.
Your generosity does not extend
to dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets,
which you use as vessels
for condiment: take one bite
out of each and look up at me
with ketchup-toothed
smile as they bleed.
You hug me shyly, marshmallow-
bellied and duck-footed.