Anapaula - Our Maiden Of Charm Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Grace, beauty, elegance, she has it all,
just as I had when I was a teenager;
I captured everyone's love and attention
now it is her turn to do the same.

I would never believe in genetics
but now she is the essence of our lineage:
our grandmother, our mother
myself and now she - we are all of a kind;
pretty when young, loving when older.

Let me tell you more about Ana Paula:
she is like a lamp always burning bright,
she is not only intelligent but also wise.

Sometimes she tells me "It is Saturday
and I don't like to go to college on Saturdays"
- that's what every teenager likes to say,
yet she never misses her classes.

Her smile is so mystic just like Mona Lisa's,
there is that strangeness in her smile;
it is not easy for a child to smile
when grief is prevalent in her heart.

I try hard to make up for the loss,
I do everything I can to help her
through the sadness she feels
but she is quite brave, herself,
how I wish her father was here to see her grow.

Ana Paula is such a determined girl
that on future path which she will walk
I am so certain success will always be her reward
and as years will pass and I will be gone
she will replace me and be the lamp of love in our family.