for mista phillip
each poem is a different collection of voices from the Northern Territory’s Gulf of Carpentaria
millad mob country a yanyuwa glowin’ song
da sea a shimmerin’ magic ting
steppin’ so brolga lightly unda moon
an dem dugong backs shimmerin’
swimmin’ in seagrass alive for dem
hunters in dat cool salty breeze
waves splashin’ da island of pandanus an cycad in sand
jeweled with dem shells an crystals of light
an written with track only us mob can sing
of lovely lovely bush tucka
us mob countin’ dem taddle eggs like stars in heaven
knowin’ millad country an dem springs
caves hidden in us sacred ground
dem rock paintin’s now satellites movin’ millad stars
*
millad father country toward doomadgee
where dem barri barri dey bin crash down
da earth an millad mob learnim sing em
e bin makem dreaming birthmark on im ears
*
we bin get up an hab im good one walk
an us see dat really really smooth coat
dey bin learnim us sing dat coat an us good
way leaves cover him millad mob never steal
dat coat makem you sick
*
millad mob not saltwater mob like dem yanyuwa mob
us gudanji mob, dis millad country
you come drive in mudika long way
out bush an us show you lagoon
it long long way you know
dat devil devil dreaming
you don’t climb him or dance
da night dat gnabia bin stay
an he chock you like tis
you drive long long way past him
past barramundi dreaming swallowed
in mine an you see high on ridge
where freshwater kangaroo bash
dat saltwater one dat where us country is
us mob sing dat place dem ceremony
an lagoon big country full
taddle, long-nose, fish an bush turkey
water lily, makulu, bush plum, onion an yam
you bend roun’ unda massacre hill like dis
– dem yalinga whitefullas call him dat –
an up a track past dat skull creek
ini cave a baby blackfulla bone
tis sung to stone like crystal memory
dem poor old people do sing dat
*