I lie awake in the orphanage bed,
The songs have been sung and the prayers have been read.
The kindly sisters have kissed our brows
And tucked us in to let us drowse.
I thought I heard you gently rise;
It stopped my heart to realize
That soft, tickling sound like the trickle of slobber
Is the cool, soothing croon of the Cradle Robber.
Pulling the covers up over my head,
I strain my ears with a gathering dread
Hoping you’ll argue or tell him to go
And swim for your life from his song’s undertow.
But no, you get up, and start to climb out.
I want to scream, or sob, or shout,
But all I can do is cry in my pillow
As you both slip away and go play in the willows.
Our adopter is coming; didn’t you know?
Couldn’t you wait for the new morning’s glow,
To fall laughing into his welcoming arms
And live there forever secure and unharmed?
And now the Robber is luring me too.
I’m lying here scared, I don’t know what to do.
Can’t you come back like a prodigal waif
To comfort us all and remind us we’re safe?