Rumpelstiltskin ' s Child
Ellen Huang
Because they never guessed my name , I took the child straight home , Glee from my giggles , which the cooing mortal in my arms echoed .
I taught him quickly , as goblins do , To dance , to laugh and romp He was a mighty little trickster at two And a natural at switching cuckoo-bird eggs .
I could never have one of my own And it is faery custom to trick our way into adoption , fair and square .
He was able to wail , chortle , and bargain Almost as well as I , and spin straw into gold when he came of age .
But what they don ' t tell you about human babies is how quickly they grow , compared to us How bored they get with existence packed in one go , as they are grounded more in thought and cannot disappear into thin air to sleep a hundred years for fun
How quickly they learn to stamp feet and disappear just the same , weighted and wounded as they are . How gold can never buy them back , not for a hundred miles around .
How strikingly , stupidly simple it is that they are called mortal for a reason .