I could stay out here my whole life.
Sinking into this beanbag
With my book,
A pile of them to my right.
The old coffee machine from
Dad’s shed is on the counter.
More of a relic now,
As it hums and squeals in the corner.
Also, in case of emergency, I have
My dad’s old rusting pocketknife
High up on the shelf where I left it.
Mum told me it was sad
That I like it out here
And like being on my own sometimes.
How else are you supposed to unwind?
I get drained by conversations with people.
Not everyone finds it easy to socialise.
I’ve been told I’m the only one
who’s grown to despise
having to socialise.
There was one time however…
He looked into my ocean blue eyes,
He told me the flecks of green
looked like pieces of star light.
Jack said it means
I have a flourishing soul.
Another time I challenged my mate
Dan, to climb the old oak tree.
Like a stunned monkey he hung
From one arm on the smallest branch.
Jack caught him when he fell.
Company is nice when
It’s just my closest friends
And me.
My pup, Ligo, manages somehow
To climb up the rungs
Of the ladder.
Who knows exactly how?
He’s a leader really.
People say dogs are followers but
Ligo would not follow me into danger.
He would defend me from it
And he’d lead me to safety.
Today he gives me a chewed
rabbit’s bone he found in the woods.
His warm heart and soul
keeps me company too.
I want to live out here
In this treehouse in the woods.
I’ll scratch my name into
The door with my knife.
Leave a message for others
To find years after I left it all behind.
Whatever people keep telling me,
I don’t need to socialise much
In order to enjoy this life.
About the poem:
I would describe this poem as one which describes an introvert’s idea of heaven, being cut off from the outside world a bit more. I think we have all thought about what it would be like to live in nature. The main character in this poem dreams of just that. The poem is about escapism, struggling with socialising but still wishing to leave your mark on the world.
