'Walgajunmanha All Time', a new poem by Charmaine Papertalk Green
We write about our existence pre-invasion / And that has made us visible
We write about our existence during invasion / And that keeps us visible
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
We write about the blood they spilt / And that honours ancestors’ memories
We write about the land they stole / And that shows they are savage thieves
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
We write about our connection to country / And that challenges theirs
We write about our lived realities / And that shows them we survived
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
We write about our sky world knowledge / And that shows them the first astronomers
We write about our earth world knowledge / And that shows them a sustainable culture
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
We write about our traditional food productions / And that contests their agriculture theories
We write about our traditional mud huts / And that debunks their walkabout romanticism
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
We write about Aboriginal deaths in custody / And that shows them we will fight back
We write about deaths in police presence / And that shows them we are not blinded by lies
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
We write about our racism experiences / And that punctures their ethnocentric balloons
We write about our campaign for Aboriginal rights / And that their pen is our weapon of choice
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
walgajunmanha
We write about deep Aboriginal culture love / And that shatters their assimilation to pieces
Charmaine Papertalk Green
This poem appears in Charmaine Papertalk Green's new collection, Nganajungu Yagu (Cordite Books, 2019).