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