the poem that changed everything.

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
----
Once on a piece of paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
and he called it "Autumn"
because that was the name of the season
and that is what it was all about
and his teacher gave him an A
and he asked him to write it more clearly
and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new wet paint
----
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 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's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tired 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.