Were Guhors ever in Guhor Wood
Was Marlisse really my lover,
Did I almost drink myself to death
How did I retain my liver,
Was i really in the Army,
Did I just use it for a bed,
Just a convenient place to
Lay and rest my head?
Did we really drink beer on credit,
The only ones allowed that way,
Settling our tally promptly
Come every single payday,
Did I lust silently after Elli
Slim and smiling behind her bar,
Was the Chief really unaware or
Wisely let things go just so far?
Did Lovely Helga come to see us
Really just for us to dance
Or did she perhaps come
In search of some romance,
As stolid Heinz watched grinning
Smile stretching from ear to ear
Joining in the banter as he
Tipped down his kleine bier?
Was this quiet Rhineland village
As idyllic as it seemed to be
Replacing my Yorkshire village
A loved second home to me,
And Marlisse, Elli and Helga,
Each loved in a different way,
Helped me to grow and survive
Fondly remembered still today?
The Chief and Elli's Gasthaus now
Extended, the dancing room gone,
The street Marlisse lived demolished,
The village modernised and moved on.
I never knew where Helga lived when
She came to play our dancing game.
Guhor woods still line the road and
In my memory all is still the same.
Why fifty years later when I returned
Did I not attempt to find or even trace
Those three cherished people as
I roamed that much loved place?
Was it I was afraid of what I'd learn
Or even what I would maybe see
Or, more likely even, my beloved trio
Might have long forgotten about me?
