Drunk as a skunk, after happily imbibing arak by the truckload with a Jordanian in semi-rural Southern India (quite a rare phenomenon at the time - the Jordanian that is). Walking 'home' alone that unusually chilly 'winter' night, with mangy dogs shadowing, circling ahead, edging closer. Out of place and suddenly a stone in the hand seemed a weapon, however pathetic. Then the unreality of having the hair literally parted by a 5kg falling coconut. Picked up the coconut and soldiered on. Woke in the morning clutching coconut to breast.
An experience that brings home the realisation that 'I could have died here', no one would have known and life around these parts would have been totally unaffected. As out of place as any white man stranded on a gibber plain could ever have been. We all have the significance of ants in this planet's long memory.
lyrics
OUT OF PLACE
I left alone, the darkest night
I might as well have had no sight
I hankered for the faintest light
I had no coat, the seeping cold
A creeping doubt, I was losing hold
The eerie silence, a sudden sound
A hint of violence, all around
Picked up a stone, I called it a friend
I knew then I was truly alone
I came to see my true significance in the end
I knew well my insignificance in the plan
Out of site, and out of mind
Out of place and out of time
Foreign land with my stone in sweaty hand
I understand my true significance in the plan
A growling dog, a muffled yelp
I draw my shoulders into myself
I know I'm out there, far beyond help
Touch the edge of my companion the stone
Think of the warmth of fire and home
The eerie silence, a sudden sound
A hint of violence, all around
Finger the stone, my trusty new friend
I know then I am truly alone
I know well my true significance in the end
I feel as small as an ant at the bottom of Uluru
Out of place as a missionary preaching in Kakadu
Out of depth as a white man stranded on the gibber plain
I know well my insignificance
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