My Favorite Poem

Absolutely Nothing –  Poem by Osoanon Nimuss  (from Chobosky's Perks of Being a Wallflower)    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 alot 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 alot 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 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 3am 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.