Night Mistress is a road-life bush poem by David J Delaney, capturing the loneliness, danger and strange pull of night driving.
With bull lights cutting through the dark, music blasting against fatigue, family waiting at home and the constant warning that micro-sleeps kill, the poem reflects the sacrifices and risks carried by those who spend their working lives out on the road.
This poem is shared as part of Keeping The Verse Alive, Country Campfire’s bush poetry preservation project.
Night Mistress
by David J Delaney
Eyes feeling heavy, still there’s no reprieve
as every K draws me closer to my goal.
Thinking of my family, I start to grieve:
this mistress of night has taken my soul.
Bull lights shine, piercing the dark abyss,
illuminated eyes glint in fear;
how many, I wonder, become a near miss —
dart into the scrub, then disappear?
ZZ Top blast their tune to no avail,
my head’s ever cloudy on this chilly night.
Fresh cool air I deeply inhale,
hoping back home, everything’s right.
My wife once again is sleeping alone,
I know she wishes I’d give it away;
fearing the worst from the ringing phone,
strength and bravery must be displayed.
White flash startles me from a trance —
was this owl an omen, a greater spirit’s will?
Through the darkness I continue my advance,
remembering, micro-sleeps kill.
Mirrors reflect an untraceable past,
clearance lights snake into the distance;
windscreen shows the future so vast,
this old rig shows no resistance.
Now at a truck stop, far from family and home,
glad my night mistress for the moment has gone.
Why do I do this? The answer remains unknown;
I’ll keep driving, I’ll continue on.
David J Delaney
Preserved Through Keeping The Verse Alive
This poem is published with permission from David J Delaney.
Country Campfire is sharing it as part of Keeping The Verse Alive, a bush poetry preservation project created to help give written and recited Australian bush poetry a permanent home online.
You can find more from David J Delaney on his Country Campfire contributor page.
Poems, recitals, photographs, stories and original works remain the property of their original creator and are shared by Country Campfire with permission.
