Nyuwili (tears)
By Charmaine Papertalk Green
Published 1 December 2023
I am kin to colonial archive violence
Ngayamanmanha; Ngayamanmanha; Ngayamanmanha flogging
Family stories of removal, genocides, and social experiments of eugenics
Bumanha; bumanha; bumanha; bumanha; bumanha killing
Of much cruelty passed through intergenerational stories
Marda; marda; marda; marda; marda; marda; marda; marda chains
We would go out there and clean up Butterabby graves
Bumanha; bumanha; bumanha; bumanha; bumanha killing
And the cultural pain that is left behind
Ngurlamanha; Ngurlamanha; Ngurlamanha; Ngurlamanha sobbing
Ancestors tears flooding a canvas like soft rain
Ngayamanmanha; Ngayamanmanha; Ngayamanmanha hitting
Our people have not been buried within the memory of this land
Waji yurajunmanha; Waji yurajunmanha; Waji yurajunmanha buried
You don’t want me to talk about invasion of this land or a treaty
I am kin to colonial archive violence I am kin to colonial archive violence
Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili tears
Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili tears
Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili; Nyuwili tears