It is deck the halls season
And Hardliner is headless –
Despite all efforts to keep clarity and focus
From hightailing out of her dome
Cause as usual – sista has surpassed her spending limit
What is it about Christmas that makes a person
Commit a drive by on their wallet?
Hardliner tries to find a soft place to land
In her hard up situation by asking herself
Which folk don’t overspend during this time of year?

The disciplined ones – comes the answer

Well she set herself up for that

Sucking her teeth – discreetly
She faces Almah standing in her path looking all impressive
And what not – in vibrant green flowing robes
And a blazing red cloth wrapping her head
Merry Christmas to you to Ms. Almah

Baby where is your governance?
Rennah asks – the musical lilt in her voice
Shaves some edge off Hardliner’s situation

It said Bye Felicia
Flat-lined!
Dang Ms. Almah!

Your jungle talk baby –
Now – how can you have good governance
When you lack discipline
When you don’t stick to your plan
Did you have a budget?

Figuratively

Ms. Almah gives her a hard stare
So you got high on that magical Christmas dust
With very limited funds and ended up…
The Earth Mother purposefully leaves the question
Suspended in mid air above Hardliner’s headless body

Pissed awf and anxious – she graciously answers
Hardliner inhales deeply as she looks around her jungle
It looks dull – bereft of the festiveness that arrived
At full throttle on the beginning of the holiday season
Christmas is her favourite time of year
Although there was a time when it would
Have gone down like a boil on her backside
Yes – she will own it – gurlfriend was a Scrooge
Until she became a mommy
And maybe it is the “do it the way you were raised”
Kinda thing that kicked in
But seeing the beauty of Christmas through a her child’s eyes
Whooped the Ebenezer Scrooge outta her like a runaway slave

So let’s get some perspective here
Almah interjects – her green robes coming alive –
Swirling about her ankles
You returned to celebrating Christmas when
You began playing Santa Claus for your little girl

Oooooooh – that is a low blow – Hardliner doubles over
Good gracious Ms. Almah – it’s Christmas
Where is the hope – joy – peace and love?

I am trying to help you find it
Underneath the consumerism disease that has run you into the ground
Come on – breath Chile – pull that cool rainforest air into your lungs
Welcome your reality – exhale – then screw on your head real tight

Ms. Almah’s real talk is enough to sober her up
In all truth maybe she was trying to fill
Santa’s boots for her daughter
After all she got good bounty at Christmas as a kid
That was how things were done in her family
And she looks at the way her cousins do
The same for their kids as well
But the thing is that times have changed
And they have tried to maintain the same patterns
Christmas last year was somewhat depressing for Hardliner
As the flow of goodies resembled a paltry stream
So yes she will come right out and own the
“Bite you real hard on the ass truth”

And that is – Rennah states offering Hardliner support

The joy of Christmas is attached to having a
Strong cash flow to buy all the Baby Alive dolls
Disney Princess shit and tablets and what not
Lawd have mercy – Hardliner takes it all in
Feeling real ashamed of her Santa game
Nevertheless she inhales this breakthrough
With surprising fortitude – though it is not like she
Gats any other choice for that matter
Sista treks her jungle – lost in thought
Or more like lost in a woe is me trance
Spirit decides to jar her out of it by flooding her dome
With a decibel popping – Ottis Redding soul classic

“Merry Christmas baby, sure do treat me nice
Merry Christmas baby, sure do treat me nice
Bought me a diamond ring for Christmas
I feel like I’m in paradise”

Are you serious – this is incredulous
Hardliner stops in her tracks to complain
But does not do so for long – cause Ottis is slaying soul
Forcing sista to come out of her trip
To view her situation in a new light
She wonders – when did she lose the true spirit of Christmas?

What is more child – have you ever grasped
The full meaning of Christmas?
What does this holiday season mean to you
Aside from going out to buy things that make life comfortable?
Nanna asks

Well honestly – she has never thought about all that
As a little girl she equated Christmas with the joy of receiving gifts
And carried this joy into adulthood with buying stuff
Home stuff – toys – jewelry and swanky clothes
Spending on herself and her child whilst giving little
Consideration to others
So basically Christmas has been more about her than anything
Good Lawd – Hardliner doubles over from labour cramps
This breakthrough is a bitch

Breathe – Almah coaches
Sometimes we learn to be selfless by
Being forced to face our selfishness
And self-absorbed ways of being

Hardliner braces herself against Almah’s grounding power
She breathes through the contractions stirred
By this new self-awareness to hit her dome
Basically sista has a Santa Complex
She has fed that Santa jive to her daughter
About a fat and jolly White man in a red velvet suit
Living in the North Pole with elves – making toys and shit
For all the good girls and boys around the world
The same mess that was fed to her
And coming to think of it – there aren’t any chimneys
In her tropical neck of the woods
For Santa and his heavy self to do a break in and enter
And that fat man is everywhere – TV commercials
Kids TV shows loaded with Santa infused story lines
That gats Hardliner’s daughter drinking all that mess
About leaving cookies for Santa to make has ass spread all the wider
Sista will admit to riding that high from the innocence
And joy in a child’s eyes at Christmas time
An enchanting high that numbs her feelings of financial inadequacy
That also makes her want to go out and jack her wallet

But this is not about you chile
Almah states with zip in her tongue that jars Hardliner
Out of her pity story
You have to teach that child about the true meaning of Christmas
Joy is not only to be had by receiving nice things
This is clearly your stuff – own it
Just because it is the culture around you
To transform your home with great things
To buy new outfits and toys
Does not mean that you have to dry out your well
And incur debt for years to come with Christmas loans
To compensate for feelings of inadequacy
You are enough for Christmas – for anytime

Hardliner is sucking in huge chunks or air
Like she is fighting for her life

You mean you are resisting this breakthrough
Almah sums it up succinctly

C’mon Ms. Almah you don’t gats to do a sista like that
Digging up all her stuff – putting all her business out there

Humility is a precious attribute Hardliner
If you can hold on to it
It will make the transformation process go smoother on you
The fiery woman retorts

Hardliner knows that she is being resistant
But all her stuff is flung in her face
This is real hardcore yall

Keep walking love – walking always helps
With processing contractions
Nanna tucks her arm through Hardliner’s elbow
Her serene grace – soothes Hardliner
Taking the edge off the painful in your face
Type of self-awareness that just hit her dome

Her jungle is beautiful today – covered by an azure sky
With sunlight splintering through the trees
Creating a hallowed effect
The air is crisp – that Christmas crisp
The kind that Hardliner just loves
Peace finds her – through the contractions
Hardliner is processing this breakthrough better now
She begins a mental list of all the things that she is thankful for
Family and good friends
Good health – well nothing terminal
She has a vision for her career – to become a drama therapist
What the hell is she tripping on?
Sista is moved to surrender all her bitching and whining
She drops to her knees with hands outstretched towards heaven
Surrendering her fear of financial inadequacy
Then forgiving herself for putting herself through that crazy trip
A new year is practically on her doorstep and sista
Will be damned if she carries this old baggage into it
She rises with her head firmly screwed on
She feels refreshed with a jig in her step
As Ottis tears up her dome

“I feel mighty fine, y’all, I’ve got music on my radio
Feel mighty fine, girl, I’ve got music on my radio, oh, oh, oh…”

Hardliner graciously receives the joy and hope
Flooding her heart right now – fully intending to hold on to them
Throughout the holiday season and the next year
Umph – there is something in the air that tastes and
Feels real good – and Hardliner catches its meaning
Ooooh – thank you Lawd – harvest time approaches
She centers herself though – good governance is at the helm now
She will not lose her head to excitement
Sista gon focus on the here and now
The Christmas season should be about service
Finding some way to serve people who are in need
Or just being supportive of family and friends
Maybe Sista should start a new tradition within her family
By doing something for the needy – visit a home/shelter
Serve in a soup kitchen or something
Because in giving one receives an immeasurable outpouring
Of blessings and joy – something she needs to teach her daughter

Sista’s jungle gats its festive back on again
It is alive with vibrant colour – sleigh bells ringing
Birds singing and Otis slamming soul like it is nobody’s business
“Santa came down the chimney
Half past three, y’all
Left all them good ole presents
For my baby and for me, ha, ha, ha
Merry Christmas Baby…”

You dayum right sista gon be merry
She gon pig out on fruit cake – heyul she gon just pig out
Hey Almah – whatcha drinking
I gats some mean ass rum punch that can fell a mountain