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 thats 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 has 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 white piece of paper with blue lines
     he wrote a poem
And called it "Autumn"
     because that was the name of the season
And thats 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 siter 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 thats what it was all about
And his professer 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 make up
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 didnt think
     he could reach the kitchen