Once on a colored piece of paper with crinkled corners
She drew a picture
And called it “Farm”
Because that’s what it was, a farm
That’s what it was about
Her teacher gave her an A
Along with a smiley sticker
Her mother framed it
She showed it off to her sister
Those were the happy days
Her mommy and daddy loved each other a lot
And the neighbor boy signed a valentine
With a row of X’s
She had to ask her father what the X’s meant
Her daddy kissed her goodnight
And always did that

Once on a piece of white printer paper with nothing on it
She drew a picture
She called it “Dress”
Because that’s what she wore
And that’s what it was, a dress
The teacher gave her an A
And told her to draw it better
Her mother never framed it
Because of the new wall
Those were the okay days
Her mom and dad still loved
Her dad never kissed her goodnight
When she asked him to do it
Father got angry

Once on a piece of graph paper
She drew a picture
And she called it “Happiness: Why?”
Because that’s what it was about
Her professor gave her an A
Along with a strange awkward look
Her mother never framed it
Because she never showed her
And those were the bad days
Her father died
Father could never kiss her goodnight again
And her mother got bitter
When she called her
This was the year her mother made her upset
But she loved her anyways

She tried another drawing
She called it “Nothing”
Because that’s what it was
She gave herself an A
A gave herself a smiley face
She hung it on her door
Forever and ever it stayed
A reminder of those good, okay, and bad days.
Over the years.