Disconnection

 ~ Gundungurra interpretations provided by Trish Levett and Aunty Val Mulcahy

Gundungurra 

Goodjahgah
nga gamiri ngyini mundu
empty spaces
for gummuang words to fill
and stretch your guri
for the pialla and their voices
 
nga gamiri your
trembling limbs ache to shake
in tangara
and hear your lungs as they gasp yoongaba
 
nga feel your
body sans
burrungilling
yabbun
and secret
 
and know that
it has been grown
with roots wrenched
from the daoure that cradled them
 
and nga taste the hunger
ngyini do
to know the parts of yourself
to feel yurwang
 
when your
Duwi has been taken

English

Little one,
I see you mouth empty spaces
for a mother’s words to fill
and stretch your ears
for the stories and their voices
 
I watch your trembling limbs
ache to shake
in dance
and hear your lungs
as they gasp with songs unknown
 
I feel your
body sans
spirit,
ceremony
and secret
 
and know that
it has been grown
with roots
wrenched
from the earth
that cradled them
 
and I taste the hunger
you do
to know the parts of yourself
to feel at home
 
when your
Dreaming has been taken

Originally published in Kindred, 2019 (Magabala)