By Selina R. Vert
Editor
At the age of 16, Daniel Bennett, a Bay Mills tribal member, took an English & poetry class at Brimley School that changed his life forever. Bennett went from being an avid listener of rap music to writing his own lyrics and, eventually, poems. Now age 22, his poems have won prestigious poetry awards.
Bennett entered his first contest on a whim.
“I was on the internet and it just popped up,” he said.
In just a few minutes, Bennett penned “Livin' Broke” off the top of his head and entered it in a contest held by the International Library of Poetry. His poem was selected to appear on the first page of a collection of poems that was released earlier this summer.
Bennett also entered a contest through the Famous Poets Society and was recently informed that his poem, “Storming in My Mind,” made the semi-final round. He will be honored as a Famous Poet for 2004 and formally presented with the Shakespeare Trophy of Excellence during a convention to be held Sept. 4 in Reno, Nevada. Bennett will be a VIP guest at the convention and have the opportunity to read his poem for a television show.
Though he received a $100 scholarship from the Famous Poets Society to attend the conference, Bennett will need an additional $1,000 to cover travel, registration and hotel expenses. He plans to ask the Bay Mills Donation Committee for their help.
“I'm really looking forward to going,” he said. “I hope it all works out.”
In addition to poetry contests, Bennett has also written a series of 51 poems that he hopes to publish into a book.
“Poetry, to me, means a way of understanding life,” he said, adding that all of his poems are very personal and mean something special to him. “[It's] a way of healing, you know ... that's what writing is for me.”
His future hopes are to parlay his poetry experience into a career in rap music, eventually gaining a record deal and opening his own recording studio. But, Bennett said that poetry is what has opened these doors to him, adding that his family has been very supportive of his efforts.
Bennett spends a couple of hours each day writing and refining his poetry. When he's not writing, he enjoys hanging out with friends, playing basketball and working as a security guard at Bay Mills Resort and Casino.
But, most of all, he enjoys spending time with his 1-year-old daughter, LaLaina. “All of my work is dedicated to her,” he said.
Livin' Broke
Livin' broke, out the window, I see it's not a joke,
Especially what I see other livin', me livin, broke
They laugh 'cause they see me as a joke
With a broke family, still I
Don't cry, I'm not going to die
I will live forever, and down the road
One day will pop up and I will be
Done with livin' broke
Storming in My Mind
Storming in my mind, it's hard to find, a solution,
And in the midpoint it's hard to direct, where I'm heading,
Actually, it's very frustrating, I love relating topics, with others,
It's a way of healing, and learning, how to deal with stressful situations,
Finding a way to relax and be patient, let time take its course,
And of course it's the storms, the brainstorming, teaching each other how
To handle the terrible weathers occurring right now in our minds,
Step by step, we come to an agreement, to calm our frustrating nerves,
That twitches, and forces us to gripe and moan, holler and kick,
Acting a roll, when really just wanting to be free, to express the mind
Voices that are speaking at a fast rate through out our minds,
And it's so hard to pick, the right fragment of the imagination,
To share with community and nation, to better serve our country,
As supreme as can be, yet the storms are slowing the mind power down,
