Dusk in Africa
.
The calm of the jungle at dusk,
The soft sounds of creatures
Returning from the waterhole, spent:
Crackling branches, bodies brushing
Against dry bushes as they went.
.
Silence descended slowly as night fell.
We sat relaxed around the fire,
At ease in the surrounding peace,
Sipping our after-dinner drinks
And dreaming of the morrow.
.
ROAR!
RROOAARR! The second, a demanding bellow
Then a series of grunts to follow:
GRUNT, GRUNT, grunt, grunt, g r u n t…
Fading slowly until dead…
Silence dropped heavily back in the hollow
And we all retreated to bed.
.
©DGA 24 January 2012 09:33
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37 Responses to “Dusk in Africa”
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Life in its many varieties … And yet it all moves as one.
Yes, indeed. And we all have the same needs to a greater or lesser degree.
Vividly portrayed.
Reminds me of hearing that sound next to me while I was crouched next to my station wagon trying to fix a fuse. I vaulted over the roof. Never been able to do that before or since.
Hahaha, Col. Now that’s an idea for getting excellent results at the Olympic Games.
Hehehe….am trying to picture it.
Nope….can’t do it.
It would take some getting used to for me to retreat back to bed…
Blessings – Maxi
Haha, Maxi, being out in the fresh air at the game farms and/or Kruger Park is guaranteed to give you a good night’s sleep no matter what, lol! God bless you.
I’d have been in bed, head under the pillows, doors locked and windows shuttered.. at the first Roar..lol Nice visuals Denise.
Thanks, Jake. I don’t think the excitement would let you hide away and miss it all, lol!
Lions and Tigers and Bears.. Oh My!
Retiring to bed would be the very last thing on my to-do list if I heard a ROAR while sipping my after dinner drink.
At night the animal noises often sound much closer than they are, Jeannie.
oh my…ha…yeah i might want to be quite secure in that from the things that go roar at night…nice setting of the scene before hand as well…
Sounds do travel further ‘in the still of the night’, Brian, so the animals sound much closer than they probably are. Thanks for the compliment, my friend.
Run inside and lock the doors, adee!
Ha, I bags the built-in cupboard, Cin!
I can actually HEAR the animals roaming the jungle. Well done!
Thanks, Hook. I wish I could write an ‘armchair safari’…
A million miles away from a rainy British day, Denise. Thank you: this was so vivid.
Thanks, Kate. I see you’re going back into the single digits!
this is so not my world, or wait a minute… you know, come to think of it, the roar of lions at dusk might just be a nice change from the kind of roaring that I am accustomed to hearing in this dog-eat-dog corner of the world I live in.
At least in the wild the savagery is a part of nature and necessity… and not out of pure greed!
spectacular poem, Denise. Africa as we all dream it up here in Europe.
Well written!
John
I really hope that we will be able to preserve it for the future, John, but poaching is taking its toll, especially with the rhinos!
Pure, Peaceful, Calm, Coolness… Had me slipping comfortably relaxed to the background sounds of darkness,frogs, locust, and an occasional flickering crackle of the fire …..and then RROOAAR!!! Spewed What Coffee I Didn’t Inhale Out My Mouth And Nose…All Over the Monitor… Great Exhilaration. Great Poetry.
Bless You
paul
Bwahahaha, Paul! Thank you, my dear friend…
Bless you too.
Terrific imagery, Denise! ROAR!
Haha, Nancy. I didn’t know how to get the lion to spring out of the page!
Takes me back to wonderful African bush holidays – dusk is the best time of the day in the bush
These are the things I will remember forever, Bb! Being in, and a part of, nature is such a blessing…
Excellent portrayal of those evenings spent in the bush camp. For a city dweller, those sounds can really be very disturbing.
Thanks so much for the visit and comment, AD. It is so nice to see you here although I couldn’t access your site yet. Anyway the link to your LD blog works now. I used to struggle before, so that in itself is an improvement.
What, the Lion only sprang out on me? He must have wanted my coffee…
Are you sure you weren’t drinking Lion Ale, Paul? (SA brand of beer) Oh, I see that there is a Lion Ale also in the US of A! That lion sure gets around…
Dusk in the African bush sounds wonderful but I would be a little uneasy with all that roaring. Must be an amazing experience!
It is, Selma. I thought I knew lions from other experiences, but to see them in the wild – they are HUGE, much bigger than I expected. Of course some are smaller, but I was really flabbergasted by the size of these ones.
Just out of a detective story…
I love all the wildlife, Sunamu, and wish I could live in a reserve to experience them every day… That, to me, is REAL LIFE.