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