Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem.
And he called it "Chops"
because that was the name of his dog.
And that's is what it was all about.
And his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star.
And his mother hung it on the kichen door
and read it to his aunts.
That was the year father Tracy
took all the kids to the zoo.
And he let them sing on the bus.
And his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair.
And his mother and father kissed alot.
And the girl around the corner sent him a
Valentine signed with a row of Xs
and he had to ask his father what the Xs meant.
And his father always tucked him in bed at night.
And he was always there to do it.
Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem.
And he called it "Autumn"
because that was the name of the season.
And that's what it was all about.
And his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly.
And his mother never hung it up on the kitchen door
because of it's new paint.
And the kids told him
that father Tracy smoked cigars.
And left butts on the pews.
And sometimes they would burn holes
.That was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames.
And the girl around the corner laughted
when he asked her to go see Santa Claus.
And the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed alot.
And his father never tucked him in bed at night.
And his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it.
Once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem.
And he called it "Innocense: A question"
because that was the question about his girl.
And that's what it was all about.
And his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look.
And his mother never hung it up on the kichen door
because he never showed her.
That was the year father Tracy died.
And he forgot how the end
of the Apostle's Creed went.
And he caught his sister
making out on the back porch.
And his mother and father never kissed
or even talked.
And the girl around the corner
wore to much makeup.
That made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do.
And at three A.M. he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly.
That's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem.
He called it "Absolutely Nothing".
Because that's what it was really all about.
And he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist.
And he hung it on the bathroom door
because this time he didn't think
he could reach the kitchen.
Manda out!
