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)