AKidNamedDan

Hi, my name is Dan
And my mind is slow
But mama told me it’s okay
As long as I can grow.

His name was Dan.
And they called him stupid
But I knew him since the first grade
And if you knew what I knew
You’d say God must’ve made him this way
Because angels are extinct
And we need a blessing.
He hides his wings between his shoulder blades
And refuses to fly so he can try to belong

See, I don’t know much
But I know I never wanted to be different
And they say I will never learn past grade 3
And maybe they’re right
But I still try

The first time I met Dan
He was on the swings
Feet dragging in the sand like anchors
Gazing longingly at the other kids in the playground.
It was recess time…
I asked him what was wrong and he said:

I just wanted to play with them
But they would just point and laugh
Like I was the penguin at the zoo
They won’t say, but I think I know why.
See I remember that penguin at the zoo.
I can tell he was lonely.

And I said…I’m sorry.
That your feet aren’t fast enough to catch up
And they treat you like you’re always playing hide and seek.

I’ve gotten so good at that game.
Sometimes, I can’t find myself…

But I found him…
See, Dan was wasn’t like the other kids…
He never laughed at anyone for being different
Like he was the first one to learn that we were all the same…
On the inside.
If only he could teach us…
So while he was never able to do so exactly
I could tell all the stories that he wanted to share with me.

Because every night
Those stars tell stories in the sky

My mama told me they listen to wishes
But I learned that if you stare long enough they start speaking
They keep my head high when it hurts down here
Because Billy pushed me into a puddle the other day
But it’s okay because he was smiling
Then it started hurting when he walked away
And left me rocking back and forth
Because it reminded me when my dad rocked me back and forth

And it reminded me of when I first met Dan.
That day at the swings when he was rocking back
And forth.
Wishing I could give him support
So I offered him my hand
Like: “Do you want to play with me?”
I got to know him better than anyone gave him a chance to.
He told me:

People treat me like an alien
But I just want to fit in
My favorite story is the Tortoise and the Hare
Because I love rabbits
And I hate the rain because I’m scared that I made God upset
So when there’s thunder I close my eyes and count to 5
And I’m afraid that loud noises would tell my ears to stop playing music
So I cover them a lot

He repeats words a lot of times
Because most people don’t listen
And he likes listening to Dr. Seuss
Because he talks kinda like me

All I wanted was to be accepted for being me

That my slow speech
Won’t make you feel that you’re better than me
Because those kinds of people always leave
Before I can ask them to be my friend.

And I wish I told him that I was…
But I count myself as one of the few
Lucky enough to have really known you.
But now I realize why you had to leave us so soon.
Because God missed having you so close to him
And didn’t want you to play hide and seek anymore…
Didn’t want you to be different…
Didn’t want you to be special

He wanted you to be happy.