ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Have You Ever Had That Feeling?

Have you ever had that feeling, in a forest, after dark,
When you see a little twinkle far away,
Like a lamp-light in a window, just a tiny little spark,
That seems to beckon you, to come and stay?

Have you ever had that feeling, you are lost, and you are lonely,
And you envy those who live inside that home;
They are warm, and they are cosy, and it seems you are the only
Person who must desolately roam?

Have you ever had that feeling, when at last you reach that light,
And you hear the TV blaring out so loud,
That the precious spell's been broken of the soft and silent night,
And you wish to slip away from any crowd?

Have you ever had that feeling as the voices rise around you
There's a band around your chest that's feeling tight;
That you're yearning for the forest, for at least it served to ground you,
And you'd like to slip away into the night?

Stephen Whiteside 27.11.2014

Yes

Me too.

I just get up and leave Stephen. if I'm at a function and it gets boring and loud I just slip quietly away.

Yep been there done that.

Bob

I suppose I was more interested in the idea that a cosy light in the forest can appear very appealing until you actually reach it, then everything can change very quickly and the forest can actually appear very appealing...

I often find that when I see a cosy-looking house in the night time my imagination creates a very romantic picture of what is going on inside. More often that not, though, if I do happen to find out what is going on inside the house, the reality is not very romantic at all, and may in fact be downright unpleasant...

I'm also fascinated by the difference that artificial lighting has made to our lives. Midnight in the city is not the middle of the night at all, but when I am camping, and I go to sleep at 8pm and wake up at 4am, it most definitely is. I can be out in the bush one moment, filled with the sights and sounds and smells that go with it then, as soon as I cross the threshold of a house with the light and the TV on, that whole world is shattered, and it is almost as though it never existed.

Sure have Stephen, not so much the forest in my case, more the desert but same result.

Yes, I can imagine that.