"The Witch's Daughters" is a 1946 poem by Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein

Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...

. It was first published in New Destinies vol. VI

New Destinies (Heinlein)

New Destinies, Vol. VI/Winter 1988—Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Issue, edited by Jim Baen, .This issue of "The Paperback Magazine of Science Fiction and Speculative Fact" was published after the death of Robert A. Heinlein earlier that year. It contains a few of his stories, several tributes, and...

, 1988 and in Requiem

Requiem (book)

Requiem: New Collected Works by Robert A. Heinlein and Tributes to the Grand Master is a retrospective on Robert A. Heinlein , after his death, edited by Yoji Kondo.- Table of Contents :...

, 1992.

The poem's title refers to the red-headed, green-eyed, pale-skinned "daughters of Lilith" who live for 800 years and then pop like a soap bubble. It takes the form of a warning to a young man to avoid them, as loving them can only lead to trouble.