Some forty years ago I was
On tour through Germany because
For tourist guides in southern France
Some German meant you had a chance
To work more often, since a host
Of Germans travelled to that coast.
Youth hostels meant a cheaper bed
But German rigidness once led
To being stranded near Cologne -
A railway blockage. On the phone
I warned the hostel “I’ll be late”
And learned at six they locked the gate.
“If you’re not back by six, then tough”
Quick check of cash, not near enough
To pay a hotel – then a thought
I had a hotel of a sort:
A Eurail pass my parents sent
Which on that fateful evening meant
Round trip to Hamburg overnight
Just one small problem, travelling light,
I had no lens solution or
Containers when my eyes got sore.
What did I do? You may well ask.
I had with me a coffee flask
That, rinsed, housed then each lens in turn
Whenever eyes began to burn.
And vision was, to my surprise,
Quite good with coffee-flavoured eyes.
