Bunada language
By Nicole Smede
Published 19 June 2023
~ Gumea Dharawal interpretation provided by Adrian Webster
Bunada language
Born of lung, egress to mouth
rounded in hollow caverns,
our subterranean caves.
Tapered tongues, lapping ridges
in glottal patterns depart
parted lips. A vibrating hum.
Bunada language
This vital force, carried in skin
and within, a genesis of sacred stories
yarns like blood through our veins—
interconnecting
infiltration and percolation,
precipitating from ancestry.
Bunada language
These oral waves shape the land
and cascade in auditory
resonant message
enfolding meaning, cradle knowledge
and forge identity
in expressive course across the terrain.
Bunada language
Rippling outward, perpetual.
A nexus swelling and surging
in celebratory liberation.
Bunada language
Note: Bunada is a Gumea Dharawal word referring to flowing water, used here to infer the Language Flows Like a River