One For The Deer

• Chanelle Kennedy, Grade 7
• Poetry
• 2009

Sitting on the couch
A bandage on my leg
My body is so scrawny
It looks just like a peg

My brothers are so big and strong
It often makes me sad
“Today I’ll show you to be a man”
And beaming is my dad

“What do you mean?” I ask him softly
He chuckles with a grunt
“Don’t be stupid, sonny boy
We’re going on a hunt”

Before he said this, my pea brain brothers
Were nowhere to be found
But “hunt” is like a magic word
For their running shook the ground

“Did somebody say hunt?” asked Pete
The oldest of the lot
“I’m teaching Jonny to be a man
To see what strength he’s got”

In the car, a Chevy Blazer
I sit in the back
With Charlie and Tyler punching me
My bones are going to crack

I stare outside the window
Wishing I was there
The deer are prancing happily
In the summer air

“We’re here” says Pete, an excited voice
He’s been here lots before
He reads the sign “Chuck’s Hunting Range
It’s deer hunting galore!”

Dad’s at the counter renting weapons
He arms me with a gun
Charlie and Tyler are super thrilled
So off, away they run

An hour and a half on the track
And I haven’t shot a thing
My brothers think I’m useless
What good am I to bring?

A baby deer pops up its head
“Quick son, this is it”
But how can I shoot a helpless deer?
I guess I’ll do my bit

I pull the trigger of the gun
My fingers tremble and shake
And BANG, a bullet torpedos out
My body starts to quake

“Well done my boy!” with a thump on my back
Dad yells “boys, gather round!”
In front of me a fallen deer
Blood flows all over the ground

“Oh Jonny I am so proud of you
You’ve proved yourself a man”
I give him the most forced grin
But in guilt and malice I stand