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).