Where is our land that used to be,
not ravaged by careless hands
cutting down all the trees that help us to breathe,
eroded soils and polluted rivers,
‘Oh, Mother Earth, I cry the pain you must feel.’
All our native flora and fauna, almost gone!
Even the little forest creatures too—our boorbis (koalas),
the proud symbol of our native lands,
the cuddly furry animals that
the tourists love to nurse and touch—
will soon become extinct!
Once my people lived in a virtual garden of Eden,
we did not desecrate our Mother Earth.
She was looked after and cared for
since time immemorial.
Until the invaders came in 1788. We welcomed them
thinking they were the spirits of our dead, returning to us.
But they came in tall ships to inflict their laws and rules
upon us and to enslave us.
They took everything from us, leaving us destitute
and dispossessed in our own lands!
Now, 209 years after they came, we are still suffering from
curable diseases, and are the most jailed people here,
and on the lowest rung of the social ladder in this country.
Even the people who migrated here, are on a higher social
level than us! The governments have adapted multiculturalism
right over our heads, like we were never ever here!
And the country really wasn’t ‘terra nullius’ as claimed,
but we have never been invited into their white social enclaves ever!
So it’s nothing new to us Kooris. They have excluded us
all our lives, but they use our Koori images on TV
for their own gain, not ours, for big bucks.
And never acknowledge us in any way. But our cries for justice
will be heard one day, for the circle is turning, and what goes round,
comes around! And it’s our turn!