The Childcatcher

(Berenyi)
"Baby," he says, "You are like the clean white page and I the pen.
The innocence I find between your girlish thighs is like the fountain of youth to my old bones."
And she replies, "Daddy's little girl's a precocious child
I love to please, I'll do anything that you ask of me
Eager to fulfill all of Daddy's needs."
"Baby," he says, "I can never love older girls like I love you.
You're easier to please and you never give me grief
'Cause you accept everything I say and do."
And she replies, "I'm in no position to make demands.
I have no past, no one else has done to me what you do.
I've got no one else to compare you to."
"And as you grow older, try to stay sixteen all your life,
Old women grow bitter, don't let that happen to you."
"And why is it charming pretending I'm younger than my years?
Why can't I grow up with dignity, set me free?"
"Baby," he says, "Now that you're older I feel our love has died.
Once upon a time you never criticised me.
Oh, I much preferred you as a child."
And I reply, "Everything you said to me was a lie.
I know your kind, you just want a daughter without a wife.
You don't need a girlfriend you need a life."