A Reading in Unlove

Once on a yellow paper with green lines he wrote a poem,
and he called it "chops" because that was the name of his dog.
And that was what it was all about.
And his teachers gave him and "A" and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door and read it to all his aunts.
That was the year Father Tracy took all the kids to the zoo
And let them sing on the bus
And that was the year his baby 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 his father always tucked him in bed at night
And was always there to do it.

Once on a white paper with green 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 told him to write more clearly
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door because the door had just been painted
And the kids told him that Father Tracy smoked cigars and left the butts in the pews
That was the year his sister got glasses with thick lenses and black frames
And the girl around the corner laughed when he went to see Santa Claus at Macy's.
And the kids told him why his mother and father kissed alot
And his father never tucked him in bed at night
And he got mad and he cried for him to do it.

Once on a paper torn from his notebook he wrote a poem
And he called it "Question Marked Innocence" because that was the name of 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 let her see it
That was the year Father Tracy died.
And he forgot how the end of the apostles creed went
And he caught his sister necking on the back porch
And his mother and father never kissed anymore, or even talked
And the girl around the corner wore too much makeup, and that made him cough when he kissed her,
But he kissed her anyway.
And at 3 am he tucked himself in bed, his father snoring soundly.

That's why on the back of a pack of matches he tried another poem
And he called it absolutely nothing
Because that's what it was all about
And he gave himself an "A"
And a slash on each damp wrist
And hung it on the bathroom door
'Cause he couldn't reach the kitchen...

-Sean Francis Anthony Leyden