Tonight the stars arise
Origin
Night excludes
Governance the moon
Entry
Recession
Length both brief and long
Origin
Night excludes
Governance the moon
Evening
Tonight the stars arise
Entry
Recession
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Author Archives: John Carroll Poems
Tongerlongeter (21)
This day in November, the twenty-sixth,
One month before Christmas, the rain pours outside.
North, my grandchildren live, east, their
Great-grandmother. One time, one place.
Eternity. What was and will be.
Restrained. A rose that blooms.
Leisurely, the present appears.
One month before Christmas, the rain pours outside.
North, my grandchildren live, east, their
Great-grandmother. One time, one place.
Eternity. What was and will be.
This day in November, the twenty-sixth,
Eternity. What was and will be.
Restrained. A rose that blooms.
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Tongerlongeter (20)
They were likened to ghosts
Observed – ‘vanish like spectres’
Natives diminished – in less than the period of one
Generation they will not have a single untenanted spot left
Extermination
Revenge – ‘They bear a deadly animosity to the white inhabitants’
Lately they have commenced a system of destruction, which if preserved in, will involve many families in utter ruin, by destroying houses and barns by fire
Observed – ‘vanish like spectres’
Natives diminished – in less than the period of one
Generation they will not have a single untenanted spot left
Extirpate the white inhabitants. They entertain no such idea.
They were likened to ghosts
Effective
Refined – ‘moving to various places with almost incredible swiftness’
.
Tongerlongeter (19)
They had a perfect horror
Of everything connected with religious instruction
Non-committal
God made
Everything
Robinson heard him say
Language not understood
On Sundays they appeared at ‘divine service’
Non-committal
God made
Everything
Tongue may have been subversive
Enduring
Remnant
“Behind him was the unbeaten remnant of one of history’s most enduring people.”
(see Reynolds & Clements, Tongerlongeter)
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Tongerlongeter (18)
Timeless time
Open sky
Numbing certainty
Ghostly
Evangelism
Revealed unrevealed
Living
Open sky
Numbing certainty
Ghostly
Evangelism
Timeless time
End
Revealed unrevealed
.
Tongerlongeter (17)
They shall grow not
Old as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them
Nor the years condemn At the
Going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them
English poet Laurence Binyon
Remembrance
Lest We Forget
Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen
National pride
God
Engraved
Tongerlongeter
Exodus
Reveal
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Tongerlongeter (16)
They now plunder houses in populous places
One observed
No longer confine their depredations to remote stock huts or isolated dwellings
Go away you white buggers, what business have you here
Emboldened
Ridiculed the idea of white men following them in the woods
Language – ‘parrawa’, ‘parrawa’ (go away)
Oyster Bay – Big River warriors
No longer confine their depredations to remote stock huts or isolated dwellings
Go away you white buggers, what business have you here
Emboldened
They have ceased to fear
Entertain but a mean opinion of the white people’s knowledge
Ridiculed the idea of white men following them in the woods
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Tongerlongeter (15)
Transformed sky
Over him
Night
Grows to day
Each
Remembers
Lost time
Onwards
Night
Grows to day
Each
Transformed sky
Each
Remembers
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Tongerlongeter (14)
Twins – I and you. Born of an
Origin unmistakeable.
Nothingness. Horizon unfulfilled.
Gargantuan – our differences.
East to west. Black to white.
Revelation or reflection.
Lacework – bobbins interweaving.
Obituary – “his prowess, his sagacious proceedings and his fidelity, his humanity and manly bearing,
No length of days will ever efface them from my mind.”
Gargantuan – our differences.
East to west. Black to white. And yet –
Twins. One land, our heritage.
Ear and eye. Left and right.
Revelation and reflection.
.
Tongerlongeter (13)
Thousand kilometres
Over the course of a year
‘Natural’
Growth fire sculptured
Earth a mosaic
Region centred
Lithe flames
Ochre collected
Natural world alive with spirits
Guides addressed a bird with hoots, the bird responded, ‘on hearing which they shouted with the most extravagant demonstration of joy’
Elements feared – in particular thunder and lightening
The constellations – ‘they spoke of stars’
Extinguished – ‘the poignancy of sorrow expressed cannot be surpassed’
Relics – ‘the ashes of the dead were collected in a piece of Kangaroo-skin, and every morning before sunrise a portion of them was smeared over the faces of the survivors.’
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