My Granddaughter

My little granddaughter asked me today,

"Hey, Granny!" What most do you fear?

I replied to her, teary-eyed,

"That someday you will leave me, you won't be near."

She showered me with kisses

And engulfed me in her arms.

"Oh, Granny! Please don't cry

Tomorrow we'll go to see your farms."

Ah! My heart! I wish I could tell you

That I am not your granny, you are not my granddaughter.

I am the woman who stole you and fled

From the pond where your father left you to die in water.

You were a girl and your father didn't like that

So he tried to kill you in the darkness of the night.

I was the peasant who saw you while returning home

So I picked you up and brought you along; I deemed it right.

It's been eight years since then

And you have grown up to be perfectly fine.

One day you will become a bride and leave me.

But until then, I want you to only be mine.