english shackles his tongue
By Nathan Mudyi Sentance
Published 19 November 2025
it is a box with a few holes to let air in
he smiles
tightly coiled
knowing the air
could combust with the right match
burn the restraints - bunhaan
says a word his nan whispered
between assimilation’s bars
lodged in his chest
next to his breath
for him to unfurl
when he needed a spark
manacles melted
ground sizzles
he stumbles
falls to his knees
coughs out smoke
his eyes drift
to the milky way
where the old songs hum
realises stars are not tears on night’s face
but children free
he crawls
then stops
says the word nan gave him
plants it in the ground
to help anyone else
shackled by English
who cannot see the stars
bunhaan that show the way
The title borrowed from 'Weaving Glass' (for Aunty Jenni Kemarre Martiniello) by Jeanine Leane featured in her incredible collection Gawimarra: Gathering (UQP, 2024).
Here's the quote from the poem: "where mulgas blossom yellow and gold against red desert sand / where your father is born to speak three languages until english shackles his tongue"
Bunhaan means ashes in Wiradjuri.
Nathan's poem was selected from over 3,000 poems submitted during Poetry Month in August 2025, as part of our 30in30 Writing Competition.
Every day across Poetry Month, we publish a new writing prompt linked to our 30in30 Commissioned Poems for poets to respond to. Thanks to our generous partner, Dymocks Books, daily winners receive book prizes.
At the end of the month, we select three poets to develop their piece with us as a paid Red Room Poetry commission and receive a writer's pack from Dymocks.
Nathan's poem was written in response to David Brooks' prompt:
T.S. Eliot is misquoted as having said 'Good poets borrow; great poets steal' (It wasn't quite that...). Steal something.
Being selected as one of the 30in30 poets for Red Room has been an incredible experience. I’m deeply grateful to Red Room for running a competition that pushed me to write every day and challenge myself. I was reading Aunty Jeanine Leane’s Gawimarra: Gathering while doing the challenge. She is a genius and her work reminded me how language carries culture and resistance. I wrote my poem because Wiradjuri can break the confines of English, which has been imposed on us, and the little language I know, or my family know, is powerful, resisting colonial structures in both big and small ways. Izzy Roberts-Orr and the Red Room crew helped me shape the piece, and I feel honoured to be selected and feel part of this supportive, vibrant community.
