The Little Man

I don't know what it was this year,
But I was struggling to find any Christmas cheer;
Maybe it was seeing other people's greed,
Shopping for things they didn't even need.

As I arrived I looked around,
A little boy and his mom was what I found;
Worn clothes and shoes were on the boy,
He didn't look like he was thinking of a new toy.

Something about him made me think he was scared,
Not about the shopping, he had a list, he was prepared;
As we went out to my car,
He watched his mother from a far.

I asked him if he was excited for this day,
Trying to get to know him in a simple way;
Then he told me he had a plan,
After all he was his dad's "little man".

He said this year it was up to him,
To make sure that their Christmas wasn't grim;
He went on to tell me that cancer took his dad,
This was the worst year they had had.

This year they were really poor,
His mom had told him, no gifts from the store;
But then the letter came, telling him he got to meet a cop,
He got to go to the store and shop.

He knew he could surprise them, it was his call,
He was determined to buy gifts for them all;
Then I looked at his handwritten list, I saw the plan,
He was right, he was his dad's "little man".

A truck for one brother,
A robe for his mother;
One sister a doll, a dress for another,
And a stuffed toy for his baby brother.

But there was nothing for that little boy,
Nothing for him, not even a toy.
He said "I'm not worried about me,
I don't want anything under the tree."

He told me this year he knew Christmas was for giving,
That was what his dad always said when he was living;
Suddenly my mood had changed,
I would make sure that his plan was arranged.

I knew this feeling, this smile,
Would last me for quite a while;
Me and that "little man",
We carried out his Christmas plan!

Colette Davison