Once in time
there was a boy named Johnny.
Johnny was skinny
and clumsy and tall.
His family was
poor, though they had money
His dad owned a
business, always on call.
He lived in a
small town in the Northwest.
He was told that
he was disadvantaged.
His school was
bad, but his teachers the best.
The classrooms
were old, the textbooks were damaged
He didn't excel,
although a bright student.
Teachers called
him an underachiever.
He didn't notice
a quarter-life spent
Until Grad-night
made him a believer.
He thought of the
times when watching TV.
Pawning his
studies to follow the game.
Must be athletic
instead of a weenie.
For sports is the
easiest road to one's fame.
Well, easiest for
some, though not for him.
Though he never
gave up, and gave it his all.
He offered his
best, and played always to win.
Yet the harder he
worked, the harder he'd fall.
When his sports
were done he had nothing to do.
He had all of the
time in the world.
"Why not
study?" said his mom, cooking the stew.
He thought of
that during supper and hurled.
His mother soon
tired of the grades he brought home.
She made him
study each day after school.
He was grounded
from TV, and from the phone.
He was shut in
his room and force-fed gruel.
His grades slowly
improved, thanks to his mom.
Although he
didn't thank her at the time.
He averaged all
B's by the time of the Prom.
He imagined that
God had dropped him a sign.
No longer
requiring his mom's motivation,
He came home on
his own and went straight to his room.
Reading Provided
some mental relaxation.
He even read
during lunch in the afternoon.
Still not an A
student, he struggles in school.
Once it was easy
for him to get A's.
Now the hard work
makes him feel like a fool.
The work has
caught up to him and his ways.
Now tired of
school, Johnny chooses a job.
if he chose to,
he could go to college.
"You should
stay in school." said his mom with a sob.
But he no longer
has a thirst for knowledge.
"School's
over." Johnny says, "and I've passed."
"Now it's
time for the fun part of my life!"
"It's time
for hot women, it's time to drive fast!"
Soon his
conquests provided him with a wife.
Now he's twenty
years old, already a dad.
He thinks of the
dreams he held as a child.
He dwells on the
past, 'cause the future looks bad.
His only
excitement, numbers mis-dialed.
Poor Johnny is
stuck in a dead-end job.
He sits and
thinks of what might have been.
Instead of his
Pinto he might drive a Saab.
He might not have
married the same sack of skin.
He urges his
friends to finish their schooling.
He wants to make
sure no one ends up like him.
He acts happy,
but knows there's no one he's fooling.
His house stays
cold, and the lightbulbs stay dim.
No comments:
Post a Comment