Stanwell Park
The blush beach air freshened. The white sun glared,
Where the Heath on the dunes laid bare,
Invaded by Bitou Bush, Lantana, Bridal Creeper
and Fireweed… Smothered!
At the hilltop by the cliff;
The paraglider’s canopy puffed
And life-and-death seemingly bluffed.
It was a sign. Stay down here or climb up?
A voice says: You’re late with manning up
At twenty. Another voice gentle with scorn
Says: Thanks Puberty, I wish I had never been
born.
One grey ironbark lost a white flower
From a bud tuft, when the first voice, sour,
Finally pondered from the forest what ‘twould be
To be forty by the dunes. “You shall see,”
The pilot laughed — and I
And then the first voice joined in laughter –
“You see, all life decisions are hard before and after,
Whatever happens, this paraglider must fall,
Flying since early morning light, I made the call
Fancy me, a zookeeper, or so I’ve dreamed;
One way or another, I’ll land at
Symbio Wildlife Park, and join the team!”
Dana Pham
13 May 2025
To be read in conjunction with https://danapham-au.medium.com/two-sexes-emerged-at-the-garden-b3139778326d