Fortnightly Poem 6.A (Featured)

Bundjalung woman Evelyn Araluen was the first poet to win the Stella prize (in 2022) with her very powerful collection Drop Bear. It is a riveting and fierce collection as it ‘confronts the tropes and iconography of an unreconciled nation. ’ T here is a lot of understandable anger about tokenism, quite shocking to we who took Snugglepot and Cuddlepie as childhood icons. And my choice this week about other tokens such as ‘acknowledgement of country.’ Apologies if her title causes offence but it is a vital part of what the poem is expressing.

Acknowledgement of Cuntery Evelyn Araluen

I would like to acknowledge

And pay my respects

The past the present emerging

; Country ; Elders ; Custodians

I welcome you all

You all like me

To the unpronounceable the

Unrememorable time immemorial

Would like to would like acknowledgement

Invitation/invite you all

To be acknowledged

And welcome invitation and respects

To any Indigenous past present

Emerging now watching me acknowledge

To be acknowledged with my respects and my conciliation

After the show during the show during acknowledgments

As I regard Indigenous with glances with acknowledgment

I would like to say sovereignty and reconciliation

I would like sovereignty and reconciliation

I would like to say

Deadly gubba blackfella mob gammon sis

Would like to speak the unpronounceable

To say your name your nation again again

Correct at last when compact

Would like to acknowledge my school trip to Alice

Respect humble unliveable unimaginable

Respect those black boys in Alice

Except for those black boys in Allice

Except for Alice

I would like to wear your flag

On shirt and tote and Facebook filter

I would like to graffiti your suburbs with your flag

Would like to ask you about the constitution

Would like to acknowledge that I’m asking

I would like to acknowledge the decades of struggle

From communities I don’t drive through

I would like to blame you for your vote

And apologise that I didn’t bring enough flyers

To your suburbs to your homes

I would like to be invited to your homes

To pay my respects my acknowledgements

I would like all this acknowledged

And to remind everyone

That we are meeting on Land Stolen

and remind everyone how sad it is

you all died

To remind everyone

that you’re all dead

or stolen

or silent

How sad it is

I would like r e s p e c t and

a c k n o w l e d g e m e n t

For all this respect and acknowledgment