Sacred sites

If I’d a been born with brown skin
Instead of this shade of white
My elders would have told me
Where I have some sacred site

But I was born a gubba man
With no elders to show the light
So my spirit grew up unguided
Had to find my own sacred site

A Sacred site is a place
Where one can go for peace
When troubles hit like a hammer
And you need some quiet release

A place that was there
When I was a child
That still exists as it was
Is still free and wild

My sacred site
Is at the end of whiting street
Where the ocean meets the shore
And the sand is my seat

I sat there when my little brother
Got hit crossing the street
My Aunty was in trouble
For he was hit on her beat

I sat there after I was burnt
When my brother set me on fire
I was there when my heart first broke
Found out my girlfriend was a liar

I took several girls there
When I learnt to drive in cars
I used to go there often
When I learnt to drink in bars

It’s where I learnt to go fishing
How to bait a line
When I found out Dad had no patience
And I developed mine

It’s where I learnt to swim
And stand on a surfboard
Where I found 20 bucks once
And got a 2 dollar reward
It’s where I took my kids
When they were small
Now they go there themselves
To the grand and have a ball

It’s where Irene and I
Met on our first date
right near Baskin Robbins
After a two week wait

For forty years now
It has been my sacred site
I always return there
It helps me think it out right

Yes it’s my sacred site
My one stable friend
I’m sure it will still be there
After my life finds it end

Copyright Jeffrey Goudy. Poetry in Paradise. Reg Trade Mark No 1028534-- 15/11/09