A Seven-Year-Old’s Christmas Wish

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Marie sits on my knee at recess,
her hair, mangy, tangled, stiff,
flaps in the Decenber wind

like a plastic racing flag.
Playground squeals
and creaking swings

force her to shout
in my ear what she wants
Santa to bring her

boots, a doll, some clothes,
a new coat and a mommy
that stays.

4 thoughts on “A Seven-Year-Old’s Christmas Wish”

  1. if you are going to write incredibly sad stuff like this could you please do it in a lousy poem so i could ignore/forget it.

    as it is you have captured my attention by setting a perfect stage and then stabbed me in the heart.

    this is a wonderful poem.

    Reply ↓
  2. michael – Corning, NY – Everybody's got something to say... this is my place to say what I need to say through poetry, fictional pieces, lyrics, and other musings and explorations.
    purple on said:

    didn’t expect that ending … heartbreaking

    Reply ↓
  3. Darlene Franklin-Campbell – Appalachia – I believe we are great spiritual beings on a journey through this physical realm and we each have gifts to share along the way. Writing is one of the ways in which I get to share my gifts. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share with you.
    nochipa on said:

    Opoetoe,

    Thank you so much. I couldn’t use the child’s real name because of legal issues, but still I HAD to somehow express how I feel about this little girl. Thank you for feeling it.

    Purple,

    Thank you so much for not expecting the ending. That matters a lot to this poetic person.

    Nochipa

    Reply ↓

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