Grandchild

Constance McLaren, Bradford

Sweet gentle child as you lay upon my knee
Wish I could tell what your future will be
I wonder and think as I catch your sweet grin
Then I wonder again as I rub the talc in.

Will you take the road that is the narrow and straight?
And live good and God-fearing, honest and right
Goodness and truth will make you a man
So live a good life when you can.

Or is it a crooked path you will take?
Or curse fellow man and just be a rake
And live off others and scorn the law
For that, lad, isn’t the way to go.

But I fear for you if the going gets tough
For my loving, I fear, will not be enough
As the world is full of evil and sin
And do as you may, the Devil creeps in.

When you’re grown up and are a man
You’ll never know nor see
The fears I had for my sweet babe
As he lay upon my knee.