The Getaway

Canvas crumples; ropes entangle; tempers f r a y

Our tent smells stale, dusty, musty

Packed away for aeons…we’re rusty

Erecting the darn thing fills us with dismay.

*

Indispensable tent poles and pegs go missing missing

Pesky pegs wobble, bounce and bend

As the hammer ascends and descends

Rocks and roots provoke under-the-breath hissing.

*

Unpleasant tension steadily mounts

A languid Sun heads off to bed

Shadows s t r e t c h, grow ever l o n g e r

As dreaded Dusk threatens to pounce.

*

At last, our flimsy ‘mansion’ is erected on high

“All hands on deck… empty the car boot

Ferry clothes, bedding, lantern and food”

We mop our brows, “Just in the nick of time!” we sigh.

*

I slip away unnoticed for a twilight stroll

Along the silent silver shore

A light breeze wafts salty vapour

Crickets chirp, fireflies flicker… time for my bedroll.

*

Grotesque shapes dance in a shadow puppet display

A comedic live ‘movie’ on flapping canvas walls

Voices murmur as laughter rises and falls

Amidst it all, the lone lantern swings and sways.

*

Like a moth irresistibly drawn to firey flame

That lantern’s light pulls me ever near

To my family, oh so very dear

The tent flap yawns wide, swallows my weary frame.

*

The manic mayhem has long since departed

Gentle snores whiffle while sleeping bags rustle

Our creaking tent’s free from all signs of bustle

Golden lantern light soothes, leaves me warm-hearted.

*

Written for the Lantern Light Challenge.