Seconds and Thirds

We were playing one day, the middle child and me
A little girl of five years, she was serving tea
She had lined up the dolls and then she told me these words
"You gotta make sure my children get seconds and thirds."

Seconds and thirds, that's what they should get
Not the back of a hand or a life of regret
And now a five-year old woman says these little words
"You gotta make sure my children get seconds and thirds."

Another day, the same room, the oldest child of three
A little boy of six years pretending to be
The father he barely knew, the one who O.D.ed and died
Now he's protecting his sisters from their mother's hard life

But it's Seconds and thirds, that’s what he should get
Not an early adulthood or abuse or neglect
And now a six-year old man has to hide how he hurts
Instead of holding his plate up for seconds and thirds

There's some kind of thread that these children hang on to
And a hope that their parents get better one day
Though the thread's awfully thin it can cover the wounding
And that's where hope gets in the way

The last one arrives, the youngest of all
A little girl, only four, so delicate and frail
We'd play doctor and nurse, we used band-aids each time
There were never enough for all the hurts that she'd find

She'd walk out of my office from her head to her toes
All covered with band-aids and God only knows
How she'll get to her healing through all of that pain
Dear Lord, let me help if I can

Now these three little souls have new parents today
Adopted by grace and a couple who said
They'd be there to provide, to protect and to love
In a home where there'd be no drinking or drugs

Only seconds and thirds, that's what they would get
Not conscription to lives where their needs were not met
And I hope that they'll soar like the clouds and the birds
While they're feasting and flying on seconds and thirds
I hope they're feasting and flying on seconds and thirds