Almanac Poetry: Sorrento, Victoria, 1983
Sorrento Beach, Victoria. [Wikimedia Commons.]
Sorrento, Victoria, 1983
A distant summer day,
spent with my girlfriend-at-the-time
– the ferry ride
where we saw no dolphins,
supposed to be a highlight of the trip
– the maritime museum
where all I remember
was a yellowed newspaper clipping,
tacked behind glass,
about a man who went to the beach,
decades before;
football star, strong swimmer,
he disappeared beneath the waves
while his wife and kids on shore looked on.
He was taken by a shark,
randomly snatched
from frolicking and laughter
– and the ridiculously fashionable
salmon pink shirt I wore,
patterned with geometric
lime green and sky blue shapes.
My girlfriend-at-the-time,
a fashion design student,
bought it for my birthday.
This happened an aeon ago.
My girlfriend-at-the-time and I
soon separated, painfully.
A decade later, she departed this life
by her own hand.
(Acknowledgement: previously appeared in my fourth poetry collection, Sacredly Profane, Ginninderra Press, 2020.)
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Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Sacredly Profane, is available HERE
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Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
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