Felix Burckhardt (Blasius)

A sashay down the Alsace

Barely the boarder in your back,
barely you begun to gulp foreign air,
at once all appears all changed.
A crisp breeze wafts about your ears
now, as if born anew,
you tear away from old routine.

What bothered you, you leave far behind
bit by bit your burdens dwindle;
what bliss to lose sight of yourself!
Yet before your first bottle
you stick your Swiss heart in your pocket
and a Gauloise between your lips.

See that goose before your car?
„Foie gras“ you think and hear your stomach rumble,
quickly asks, who’d know an inn!
And how you’re chuffed, you rascal,
to get a glass of “Gwirz-traminer “
and some Alsatian sauerkraut.