Poems

• 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 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 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 that 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 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
  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.