We who loved America 

I enjoyed  America and remember touring 
a Sunday outside Houston (Texas), met in a café
a group of openly armed, elderly men 
They were courteous people one could meet 
I understood guns have cultural meaning
In America, we in Europe don't understand 
I remember a saying, "A country where the populace 
is armed, people are polite."
I stayed on the ship longer than needed, but had
To go home and get educated, I studied management 
and later ran a restaurant 
I was never at ease in my country, not that I suffer
Retromania, trying to escape my past, but
I was back on a ship again, this time as chief steward
plying the waters of America and the Caribbean.