I don't remember my father--
He died when I was young.
Then my mother married his nephew,
My father's sister's son.
So--my cousin became my father,
And, as my father's wife,
My mother is my cousin
In my crazy, mixed up life.
My father's mother became grandma,
Though she was my aunt, before,
For her father was my granddad,
And her children, furthermore,
Who used to be my cousins,
Are my aunts and uncles, now;
My aunts became my great aunts,
But please don't ask me how.
Now--my younger brothers and sister
Are second cousin, you see,
For their father's now my father,
Though still a cousin to me.
My mother became my aunt--
She was married to my dad, first,
Who was uncle to my new dad,
Which makes the mix up worse.
My granddad is a great granddad
To my sister and my brothers,
For my father became their uncle
When their father married my mother.
While I'm a cousin to my father,
I'm still his daughter, too---
Why this family's such a puzzle,
I haven't the faintest clue.
Martha Mann Scott