Nov 22, 2003 09:22
"Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines he wrote a poem and 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 a lot. And the girl around the corner sent him a Valentine's card 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 he was always there to do it.
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'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 the wet 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 Clause. And the kids told him why his mother and father kissed a lot. And his father never tucked him into bed at night. And his father got made when he cried for him to do it.
Once on a paper torn from his notebook he wrote a poem and 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 with a strange steady look. And his mother never hung it up on the kitchen door because he never showed her. That was the year Father Tracy died. And he forgot how the "Apostle 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 to much make-up that made me 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 with his father snoring loudly.
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."
-Perks of Being a Wallflower- pgs. 70 - 73