Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lineshe wrote a poemAnd he called it 'Chops'because that was the name of his dogAnd that's what it was all aboutAnd his teacher gave him an Aand a gold starAnd his mother hung it on the kitchen doorand read it to his auntsThat was the year Father Tracytook all the kids to the zooAnd he let them sing on the busAnd his little sister was bornwith tiny toenails and no hairAnd his mother and father kissed alotAnd the girl around the corner sent him a Valentine signed with a row of X'sand he had to ask his father what the X's meantAnd 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 lineshe wrote a poemAnd he called it 'Autumn'because that was the name of the seasonAnd that's what it was all aboutAnd his teacher gave him an Aand asked him to write more clearlyAnd his mother never hung it on the kitchen doorbecause of its new paintAnd the kids told himthat Father Tracy smoked cigarsAnd left butts on the pewsAnd sometimes they would burn holesThat was the year his sister got glasseswith thick lenses and black framesAnd the girl around the corner laughedwhen he asked her to go see Santa ClausAnd the kids told him whyhis mother and father kissed alotAnd his father never tucked him in bed at nightAnd his father got madwhen he cried for him to do it.Once on a paper torn from his notebookhe wrote a poemAnd he called it 'Innocence: A Question'because that was the question about his girlAnd that's what it was all aboutAnd his professor gave him an Aand a strange steady lookAnd his mother never hung it on the kitchen doorbecause he never showed herThat was the year Father Tracy diedAnd he forgot how the endof the Apostle's Creed wentAnd he caught his sistermaking out on the back porchAnd his mother and father never kissedor even talkedAnd the girl around the cornerwore too much makeupThat made him cough when he kissed herbut he kissed her anywaybecause that was the thing to doAnd at 3am he tucked himself into bedhis father snoring soundly.That's why on the back of a brown paper baghe tried another poemAnd he called it 'Absolutely Nothing' Because that's what it was really all aboutAnd he gave himself an Aand a slash on each damned wristAnd he hung it on the bathroom doorbecause this time he didn't thinkhe could reach the kitchen.