War and History Poetry posted August 27, 2014


Exceptional
This work has reached the exceptional level
Love of my land - Australia.

Heart Country

by Aussie

White ghost gums reach for azure skies
Red earth - home to green bull-ants
Witchetty grubs huddle in tree stumps
Women dig for grubs and Kumara.

Land of my ancestors - heart country
Willy-Willy dances for all to see
Ancestors live in Gadawon trees
Spirit of Yalunga sleeps soundly.

Oldest country on earth today
No written language you will see
Simple people - first land owners
Children leave for big cities.

Haunting sounds of didgeridoo - singing
Message sticks clicking
Campfires burn and to heaven leave
Families sit - for their lands, grieve.

Animals and bird colours - unique
Wombat wobbles towards his burrow
Kangaroo thumps his massive tail
Kookaburra calls the rains to come.

Mother Earth her faced cracked open
No Botox here - rain unlocks her fears
Love of my land - Australia
Unique and beautiful island.

Flocks of pink galah fly noisily
Budgerigar - small and flashing green
White Cockatoo - Sulphur Crested
Black Cockatoo - red tie vested.

Young people leave their tribal lands
No teaching them - cities beckon
Of all the nations, we are oldest
60,000 years have seen our progress.

Government welfare feeds our people
Wine and beer rots our bodies
Children sniff petrol cans
Beautiful and sacred home lands.




Free Verse Poetry Contest contest entry

Recognized


Freestyle contest entry - painting by Albert Namatjirra - first to be recognised Aboriginal painter - traditional lands. My grandmother was aboriginal - our culture is being lost because of so-called white progress. We can't go back to the Dreamtime and we have no written language. So sad the song.
didgeridoo: hollowed out tree branch, painted, used for musical dances.
Wombat: large, fat, earth dwelling marsupial. Favourite
food.
Boab tree: shaped like a bottle and holds water to drink.
Witchetty grub: a delicacy cooked over a fire or eaten raw.
Yalunga: Rainbow Serpent - said to have created the rivers.
White Sulphur-Crested cockatoo - large bird of parrot family.
Black Cockatoo: Large black bird of parrot family.
Budgerigar: small green/yellow parrot - folks all over the world have them as pets in cages.
Kookaburra: Large white and grey bird - kills snakes and rats for food - has a call that sounds like laughter.
Gadawon tree: many names, most common is Boab - so large, used to hold prisoners. Generally held water.
Willy-Willy: dust dancing driven by winds on the plains.
Kumara: sweet potato.
Pays one point and 2 member cents.


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