There's no Christmas tree
Because she couldn't get a day off work
To go grab one for the two feet of carpet
That makes up their living room
The kitchen table is more for bills lately
Than food
And she can't pay any of them
And there's no convincing the credit card men
That she'll pay them off any day now
And can they please give her another one in the meantime
To buy her son Christmas presents with
Not this year, Mom, not this year
Her son plays in his room
With action figures from last year
She can hear him telling them
About the new friends they're going to have
In just a few days
Not this year
This year he might not even have a room
If the rent doesn't get paid on time
They'd have to move in with her mother
In that bad neighborhood
Where you lock your door
Even if you're just waiting in the car
For someone to come down and meet you
His dad hasn't sent a check
In so long
She wonders if he's dead
And part of her wishes he was
But it's hard to think things like that about him
When she looks at her son
He looks so much like his dad
She'll have to tell him some truth this year
It's pretty sad
When you can't even afford
The little white lies
Other parents feed to their kids
About Santa, and reindeer, and elves
And cookies
And Christmas
She's thinking about that
And the bills
And she doesn't even hear him
Come up behind her
And hand her the tray of cookies
'No, sweetie,' she says
Backing down already
From what she knows
She has to say
'Those are for Santa'
He looks at the cookies
Then at her
And says--
'It's okay, Mom. You look like you need them more.'
She takes the cookies
Takes her kid in her arms
And knows that they'll get through
She's not sure of a lot
But she's sure she's tough
And so is her kid
And she knows
They'll get through Christmas
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