Idora (little fibro holiday house) i remember you now
wild and free and young
i am me
running along the sand
and collecting shells
walking around the rocks before sunset now
inspecting the rock pools with glee
in it i saw a thousand fish and shimmering
tentacles of octopus and oyster shells
and lots of sea anemone
this was in the 1960s that was me
now i go there again and walk again
walk along that same sand and feel the
joy that was
the waves crash onto me and i no longer
run with glee
i just walk along and remember as i see
younger children just like that old “little julie me”
i try to find the house on the ocean shore we used to rent
each year
the white picket fence is still there
but in its place is a new 2 storey mansion
with windows oh so wide with nice furniture i bet inside
the yard is till the same
the bindies are still there and i can still see mum and i
sunbaking there in the morning sky
i can still recall the mantovani as it played from the old
fibro rental my fathers favourite a summer place would
bellow so loud to the beach below
how dare they pull the old fibro down
with the old kitchen and wooden heater for the bath
with real fire
how dare they take the single beds with pink chenile bed
spreads that sister and i used to sleep in
and hide from the spiders on the wall
as there were no
flyscreens on the windows then
how dare they remove the lino from the rented floor
the sandy floor so familiar i can still see it and feel it beneath my feet now
how dare they remove the old crockery and rusty toaster and kettle now
as we arrived for our yearly holiday mum would make it all shine anew
and make many a fish dinner and
bacon and eggs too
here i stand 40 years on
and see my family some departed now
i can still see the happy scene of family
every morning running down to the beach
to catch a wave or three
then after a day at the beach
putitng cold tea on our burnt legs
we didnt use sunscreen then
how dare they remove that house
and put a new one now
in its place
I remember the house name
“Idora”
i can still see it now
the little fibro white house
with the old cupboards now
in its place a huge mansion
will never replace it now
i stand there and pick a daisy the same daisy patch still grows there now
at least they left alone
for a clown like me to come and secretly cry and see
(2013)
i wrote this about an old holiday fibro house on the beach at avoca we used to rent annually. NSW.
