Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines   he wrote a poemAnd he called it “Chops” ...

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 what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
   and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door
   and read it to his aunts
That was the year Father Tracy
   took all the kids to the zoo
And let them sing on the bus
And his little sister was born
   with tiny toenails and no hair
And his mother and father kissed a lot
And the girl around the corner sent him a
   Valentine signed with a row of X’s
   and he had to ask his father what the X’s meant
And his father always tucked him in bed at night
And 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 on the kitchen door
   because of its 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 laughed
   when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
And the kids told him why
   his mother and father kissed a lot
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 “Innocence: 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 on the kitchen 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 too much makeup
That made him cough when he kissed her
   but he kissed her anyways
   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
And 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.