Published 26 January 202124 February 2021 · Poetry / Activism / Aboriginal Australia Poetry | when can we heal Lorna Munro Since when did they ever value this land cos if they did they would have paid the price they would have done what was right instead there has been theft after theft after theft murder and rape incarceration and desecration selling off what they could never own selling off our only home Giving it away to the first white man that put his hand up and its okay cos we are Black and Indigenous it’s okay to quarter and divide our mother up this is Country not Auschwitz the Thames or Rome this aint the valley of the kings or Paris or any catacomb this aint Times Square just a place to bear the colony’s bastard children the ones imprisoned and sent here more than 200 years ago We never did anything wrong so now I gotta write for my own sanity process this inhumane shit so it don’t get the best of me reject these colonial tools and weaponry I cant keep crying for my Country can’t keep applying band-aids to gaping holes of missing rock and reminisce about what was in front of me and lament at what they forgot Little people be watching me who the fuck holds them down while I’m feeling sorry who the fuck is gonna show them their country who’s gonna tell them their stories of how our ancestors survived of how matriarchs ensured we thrived and put the creations memories in all little babies minds eyes and hearts where do we even begin to start picking up those pieces how do we win any battle against this bloodthirsty creature? Lorna Munro Lorna Munro, or ‘Yilinhi’, is a Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi woman, multidisciplinary artist and regular radio and podcast host at Sydney’s ‘Radio Skid Row’. Lorna continues to work tirelessly mastering many art forms, raising funds, supporting and advocating for her Redfern/Waterloo community and her people on the local, national and international stage. She is a 2019 recipient of the Wheeler Centre’s Next Chapter writers’ scheme. More by Lorna Munro › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 3 November 20233 November 2023 · Poetry our neighbours poem Ender Başkan our neighbours face appears above the fence – hello. our neighbours have a chat with us. our neighbours learn our names. our neighbours become our friends. our neighbours landlord thinks the market is ripe. our neighbours are told to leave. our neighbours try to buy their house at an exorbitant price to keep their kids in the school zone. our neighbours are denied. First published in Overland Issue 228 30 October 202330 October 2023 · Politics The lost Commonwealth Barry Corr Constitutional change is dead in the water. The Referendum has exposed the divides within our society, and the result demonstrates to the world Australia’s unconsciousness of its human rights failures. Sixty per cent of Australian voters have, consciously or unconsciously, determined that ‘bipartisanship’ lies somewhere between erasure and assimilation.
