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.

.

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’

.

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)

.

Timeless time

Open sky

Numbing certainty

Ghostly

Evangelism

Revealed unrevealed

Living

Open sky

Numbing certainty

Ghostly

Evangelism

Timeless time

End

Revealed unrevealed

.

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

.

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

.

Transformed sky

Over him

Night

Grows to day

Each

Remembers

Lost time

Onwards

Night

Grows to day

Each

Transformed sky

Each

Remembers

.

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.

.

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.’

.

Tender eyes of women swimming with tears.

Oyster Bay – three hundred generations

Nations since the flood – an ancient way.

Grandeur – a landmark in our history.

Empire’s native people – usurped their land

Recalled Buxton – kidnapped, enslaved and murdered.

Land – an incontrovertible right.

Oysters, opossums, kangaroos – subsistence

Noted by a clergyman – no settled

Gathering grounds – a smattering of our language.

Elizabeth Street – expectant crowd –

‘Three spears in his left hand and one in his right’ advancing.

Empire’s native people – usurped their land

Recalled Buxton – kidnapped, enslaved and murdered.

.

Thomas Buxton – a key figure in the powerful humanitarian lobby, British parliament.