Kweensland. 3.
By Ellen van Neerven
It was a mistake to collage what was already Yugambeh land.
The lyrebirds are reliable witness to where we used to live.
The national park is in doubt when our sovereignty speaks.
We are the original time-travellers
with found passports of longing and many pasts.
To understand how deeply, or how shallowly, we have been colonised
if you take away the lines, the north, south, east and west.
a ruling spatial disposition ever tethered to our movements
the Yugambeh focus explodes the view.
evokes words like hands on face.
Demands to bush camp even though it’s peak time.
Demands to bush walk even though there’s no desire to reach the summit.
To place is not to perfect.
To stay, to keep on, is something we must do.
