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 a lot
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 a lot
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 that 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 three A.M. 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.

-- Taken from The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky


I don't know about the rest of you guy, but I read this and I was instantly drawn into it. It might just be one of my favorite poems.

I am so upset that this book was stolen from the shelves of the library and I haven't been able to buy it! Argh! I want to read it with all my soul....I guess i'll have to keep on searching.

Thanks for sharing the poem Jenos

I found this book just amazing and I believe whoever reads it will be touched.

I loved the book. I need to read it again. And the poem is written amazingly.

And welcome to yn FunnyFace, i hope you like it. It's kinda addicting...

I thought The Perks of being a Wallflower was an absolutely amazing book. I actually read the poem for a speach and debate competition and the girl who I read against picked the same poem. It was really weird. She turned out to be a really interesting person and we both found it funny that we picked the same poem, especially because it isn't a very well known poem (especially for the time).

I can't get into a poem without a rhyming scheme or random repition, but it's not too bad ^^;

Before I read that book. I was a seriously bad person. I was cheating on my girlfriend and I was always being an aweful person to everyone. The day after I read that book I stayed home from school and thought about it all day. I totally straightened out my life and I'm a better person because of it.

i apsoultly LOVE that book!!! it was eye openign and thrilling!! i cryed and laughed and it ws soo much funn and i love idk i just love everything!!

the poem was great im using it in class1!!

I like it too Jenos. I found myself actually getting into it.

does anybody know who wrote that poem? did stephen chboskywrite it?

that was one of the saddest but most moving books i have ever read.

I LOVE it!! I kinda like long poems... LOL

I really do like that. It was touching. But it was also extremely long.