I want to ask you a question

I want to ask you a question.

Audio

It was up at Tydraw, where they razed the houses,

shall I tell you how? Or why, more like.

It was because they,

they were like criminals, see.

No cure; so they simply razed

them to the ground; there’s a green field

there where the road leeds to Tir John.

Down another was Tygwilt, my dad said,

and I think I walked there, down the valley,

by the steam, beneath the trees, by Brown’s farm,

where the dogs barked. Boy, how they barked

above the bird’s nest that we found, we held our ground,

didn’t we boys? Not really afraid like. But we didn’t want

him to chase us mun, because we had the bird’s egg see.

“All behind like Brown’s cows”, my mum used to say.

Yes I think I’ve walked there, that I can probably say.

And around the back below there, above Crumlin bog

I’ve walked the rusty shedded road to Winchwen,

and back again to the Black woods with the

chestnut trees and the stream 

where we raised that fox. Up the stoney muddy lane

between the hillside farm, where the dogs cornered us,

and the farmers wife was stopped, put in her place with

the farmers cry: “never mind the dogs woman!

Get the fucking heifer! The fucking heifer!”.

Never mind the dogs, we ran from the farmer,

and dogs minded the heifer. Not going there again

for heifer and a day; we laughed all the way

over Kilvey Hill above the docks, and in the quarry

that had a gold mine, that’s far enough in and out 

above Danygraig cemetery where the black dog rang

the bell at closing time, err the ghosts take foot,

eh? Then on up Grenfel Park road to 

see the Tawe flow in the valley beneath the rocks, where

there is a German bullet lodged in the warm-handed stone,

we said. And we said it was a tree trunk in the river,

until they pulled the dead boy out, God his mother’s screams

made us shiver. We ran the sulphur slag slime yellow slither

along Rifelman’s Row and Taplow Terrace. So near home

and, phew!  And phaw, Dennis the Menaces we are see, 

going down Pentrechwyth steps and home for tea.

So there you are; 

that’s what I were,

that is me.

So now my question is ......

Will you marry me?