The Call Of The Outback

[Terry]

After Ross's Poem it seems a good time to post this - I probably posted this before - can't remember?

THE CALL OF THE OUTBACK

I wonder what it really is that draws me back each day,
is it the outback calling, urging me to head this way?
What looks like miles of nothingness may greet the untrained eye,
but somehow gets into your blood; it’s hard to reason why.
I leave it for a while at times but never for too long,
for loneliness soon touches me, despite the city throng.

The bush has compensations bringing peacefulness of mind;
the country folk you meet there; fellow nomads of my kind.
And I can see such beauty where some others may see none
and love the sound of silence like old timers must have done.
So when I take a trip away, I know it’s not for long,
I’m fed up very quickly with the nightlife drink and song.

I live the life I want to live not ruled by clock or phone,
the sun’s my only timepiece and the choice is mine alone.
There’s time to listen to the birds and view the scene at hand,
then pause and breathe the fresh air as it drifts across the land.
I pick a place to camp and stay a month or just a day;
depends on how I’m feeling, but I do it my own way.

I’ve tried to fit into the life that most Australians live,
down in the noisy cities - gave the best that I could give.
But soon was suffocating in a sea of stressed mankind,
trapped in a concrete forest where my life was too confined.
There’s hustle and there’s rushing with the constant tramp of feet
and I was out there with them as they pound a city street.

My heart was never in it and my mind was miles away,
I missed the open spaces; grew more restless by the day.
I knew I had to leave that life it wasn’t meant for me
and urgings grew much stronger as the time approached to flee.
The wilderness was calling, softly whispering to me
and nights were full of distant dreams of where I ought to be.

I felt a sense of freedom as I left that life behind,
my spirits were soon soaring; I again had peace of mind.
I took up where I left off in the gold fields of the west,
prospecting for a living, it’s the life that I love best.
You see the changing country as you’re always on the move,
you choose a road to follow and there’s nothing more to prove.

I still go to the city for a visit once a year
and I can see the reason why my heart belongs out here.
And people from the city feel the same about their town,
they hate the isolation of the outback dry and brown.
With numbers slowly dwindling the future looks quite bleak,
my way of life is fading, disappearing as I speak.

******


© T.E. Piggott 2/11/2010

[Catherine Lee]

Love this Terry. You put across the sense of freedom, peace and beautiful wide open spaces so well.

[Terry]

Thanks again Catherine

Terry