Dan Guenther: Notes from a Cronulla Homecoming

Notes from a Cronulla homecoming

Yearning for the places of our youth
we followed a path
held permanent in our hearts.

What we found
was as impermanent as the thawing tundra,
our favorite pub rebuilt into high rise condos.

Skateboarders
wheeled down Cronulla’s Esplanade, reckless,
and in tune with their own celestial music.

No doubt the universe is speeding up,
with yesterday’s longings filling the emptiness
for those left behind.

Tonight the news reports two white pointers
consumed a humpback calf off Kurnell,
churning the whale-bloodied sea into burgundy froth;

And we who once danced before bonfires on the beach
stroll in the here and now under Washingtonia palms,
where memories of our old passions mean everything.

Dan Guenther