A Poor Mother's Love

A poor woman in threadbare clothes
Walks downtown,
A little girl smiling at her side
As she skips down the
Grey, blustery street
Holding her mother's hand.
It's her birthday!
The push open the door to
The candy shop,
The little gold bell announcing them
As swirls of snow blow across
The honey colored wood floor.
Her eyes grow big as she
Looks at the candies hungrily;
Chocolates, gumdrops, truffles.
Finally she makes a decision
And her mother hands over
Her last few pennies
To purchase the little thing in shiny paper.
And the child walks out
With warm butterscotch melting on her tongue
Unaware of the emptiness of her mother's purse,
Or the fullness of her mother's heart.