SANTA CLAUS AND LITTLE GIRLS

Once,
On white paper with blue lines, he wrote another poem
And he called it "Autumn"
Because that was the name of the season and that's what it was all about.
And the teacher gave him an "A"
And told him to write more clearly.
And his mother didn't hang it on the door because the door had just been painted.
That was the year his sister got glasses with black frames and thick lenses,
And the kids told him why his mother and father kissed a lot,
And that Father Tracy smoked cigars and left the butts in the pews,
And that the girl around the corner laughed
When he went to see Santa Claus at Macy's.
And his father stopped tucking him into bed
And got mad when he cried for him.

Once,
On paper torn from his notebook, he wrote another,
And he called it, "Questioned Marked Innocence"
Because that was his grief and that's what it was all about.
And the professor gave him an "A"
And a strange and steady look.
And his mother never hung it on the door because he never let her read it.
That was the year he found his sister necking on the back porch,
And his parents never kissed or even smiled,
And he forgot how the end of the "Apostles' Creed" went,
And Father Tracy died.
And the girl around the corner wore too much make-up,
That made him laugh when he kissed her but he kissed her anyway.
And around 3:00 AM he tucked himself into 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
Because he couldn't reach the Kitchen.