The One Who Stayed

You should've heard the old men cry
You should've heard the biddies
When that sad stranger raised his flute
And piped away the kiddies

Katy, Tommy, Meg and Bob
Followed, skipping gaily
Red-haired Ruth and my brother Rob
And little crippled Bailey

John and Nills and Cousin Claire
Dancing, spinning, turning
'Cross the hills to God knows where
They never came returning

'Cross the hills to God knows where
The piper pranced, a leading
Each child in Hamlin Town but me
And I stayed home unheeding

My papa says that I was blessed
For if that music found me
I'd be witch-cast like all the rest
This town grows old around me

I cannot say I did not hear
That sound so haunting hollow
I heard, I heard, I heard it clear
I was afraid to follow