The perks of being a wallflower

Once on a yellow piece of paper with green line
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 teached 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 velentine 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 peice of white paper with blue lines he wrote a poem called "Autumn"
because that was the name of the season and what'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 it's new paint
and the kids told him that father tracy smoked cigar 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 frame
and the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see Santo 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 go mad when he cried for him to do it.

Once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem 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 onthe frigde because he never showed her
That was the year father Tracy died
and he forgot how te 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 bu he kissed her anyway beucause that was the thing to fo. And at 3 AM he tucked himself into bed his father snored 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