a kangaroo jumps untidily
into a barbed wire fence
man: marinj
star posts strike against legs
the entangling
ends in a hanging
policeman/octopus: djuŋa
so our national idyll is pierced
by a half forgotten cleansing
to stab: djug
songs of the land and its memory
smothered in woollen sheets
snow: gunuma
droving in the new furniture
with a newer design
to steal: maŋgai
modular towns, imported,
still smelling of the London dock
rotten: ŋulu-ŋulug
the old people disbursed
like smoke among the eucalypts
ashes: brinj
gone hiding in the mountains
some trees still show their shattered text
scribbly gum: balug
but time removes these fragile marks
lucky to evade the settlers' advance
a younger sister: galan
later while we cringed in our cocoon
the final speakers were dying
to cry: gambawali
they had the keys to unlock our isolation
but an empire's child we are proudly in prison
an obstinate person: njarala-muga
in a white castle washed by the sea
we file our name: delinquency
to roll one’s eyes: djuŋgul
this neighbourhood did not rear these weeds
but there is time for some reconciliation
this neighbourhood did not rear these weeds
but there is time for some reconciliation
sorry: ŋaralda
the embrace would come easier
if blood did not disfigure our face
a wild man/killer: dulugal
let’s heal these wounds
and make our country whole again
a doctor/clever man: budira
ŋarigo and
Ngunnawal words used in this poem, with thanks to the Indigenous people of the
Canberra region, and the pioneering language work of Luise Hercus.
