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 smoke 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 it to her

That was the year that Father Tracy died

And he forgot how the end

  of the Apostle's Creek 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 really was all about

And he gave himself an A

And a slash on each damned wrist

And he hung it on the bathroom door

 because he didn't think

 he could reach the Kitchen.