The Hidden Cost

As a Guide I’m in the leisure trade
With facts and figures on parade
But what they quite forget to say -
You learn when working straightaway -

An early start is oft required
No wonder that you come home tired!
Those train trips before dawn rises
Ensure there are no “bad surprises”.

Your weekends soon are fully booked
And social commitments overlooked
When you’re free, your friends are not
You become the one the rest forgot.

As parties and events take place
When you are in another place!
The tourist season at its peak
Means many walks in Bruges each week

Interspersed with rival Ghent
So nearly every day is spent
In rushing to collect the guests
And enthusing over Belgium’s best!

But now the chat and anecdote
Are second nature; I can quote
Or add light humour to my spiel
To make each tour seem new and real.

(c) Poet in the woods 2013



The medieval Port of Ghent