States of Poetry 2016 - Western Australia | ‘Yamaji Culture’ by Charmaine Papertalk-Green
Yamaji Culture
A culture worth loving
A culture worth fighting for
A culture worthy of being loved
Why tell me I don't need it?
Why tell me I can't need it?
Why tell me I can't love it?
Why tell me it's not worth fighting for?
Why tell me it's not worthy of love?
Yamaji Culture
I love it – I laugh for it
I stress for it – I cry for it
I fight for it – I believe it's worthy
Of love and respect
I cry when you talk
As the colonisers
Conditioned you to
Talking of a culture to die
Talking of a dying race
When we are very much alive
I watch Yamaji culture change
Adapting to survive
Why don't you understand that?
Why can't you understand that?
Yamaji culture is a culture
Worth fighting for
A culture worth loving
A culture worthy of love and respect
Don't wipe all that away
Hang on – hang on tight
Country men and country women
Our Yamaji Culture
Charmaine Papertalk-Green