Poem

'Walgajunmanha All Time', a new poem by Charmaine Papertalk Green

by Charmaine Papertalk Green •

August 2019, no. 413

Poem

'Walgajunmanha All Time', a new poem by Charmaine Papertalk Green

by Charmaine Papertalk Green •

August 2019, no. 413

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

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

We write about our connection to country / And that challenges theirs

We write about our lived realities / And that shows them we survived

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

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

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

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

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).

Charmaine Papertalk Green

Charmaine Papertalk Green is a poet, visual artist and social sciences researcher from the Yamaji Nation, Western Australia. She has been represented in many anthologies focusing on Aboriginal writers in Australia. Her books include Just Like That (Fremantle Arts Centre Press) and Tiptoeing Tracker Tod (Oxford University Press). Her new book is Nganajungu Yagu (Cordite Books, 2019). Charmaine lives in Geraldton, rural Western Australia.