Bender Boys Three - Poem

The Bender Boys Three

By Nate Bender – April 26, 2007

Dressed in miniature Navy suits alike,

To church they scampered, a unit defined.

Reflector stripes marking their every move.

Pride bubbling from their innocent faces,

Knowing older brother James wore the

Full-sized version in ‘the war’ far removed.

Seasonal forays hold memories quite divine,

Three of God’s little creatures with energy most rare.

Romping in the buff during Summers’ heat;

Tilling and planting in Iowa’s rich black soil;

Absorbed by the sights, smells and sounds of Autumn droppings;

Winters’ arrival bringing thick frost to the kitchen windows all,

Making chances for sledding down country roads and fields.

Inseparable they were, The Bender Boys Three,

Bonded by gender, genes and proximity.

Held captive by endless doings in nature’s bosom.

Feeling safe and secure in the boundaries of home;

Cleanliness and godliness linked to parental intonations,

Accompanied by hearty meals and daily devotionals,

Making retreats into slumberland a delightful excursion.

Individual differences surfaced via the passing of time,

Leaving gaps too wide to marshal connections.

Separate and divided their pathways became,

With little opportunity to share and support.

Sweet uniformity of early childhood,

Replaced with incomprehensible realities of individuation.

The Autumn of their lives find The Bender Boys now two,

No longer inseparable, yet somehow still connected.

Each distinguished by his own legacy and stories,

Some interesting, and some marked by sadness,

Secretly yearning to bond as before.