For one single moment I thought of my aboriginality
For we are all native to somewhere
We are all aboriginals somehow
I thought of Albert
For I truly loved Elia
And I thought of Harry and the flag
I thought of my own father
His country
I thought of my love for something I am not
A true aboriginal
A true Australian
The culture of a great race of human beings
Is threatened
By the fringe dwellers
By the alcohol
By the lies
By the diseases
And by the desperation
The black hole takes on a new meaning today
And whilst governments procrastinate
Embassies arise in strange places
From frustration
Sacred dreaming’s last stand
From sadness for their ancestors
Love of race
Proud as
And once again
I thought of my love for something I am not
A true aboriginal
A true Australian of forty thousand years
Lost

Take your old brown feet and walk
Walk forever proud across this place
But whatever you do, don’t stop
Whiteman is coming he’ll be in your face
Uneducated threat to your race

Take your old brown feet and walk
Make footprints that will stand the test of time forever
Make handprints of ochre along the way
Whiteman coming many things clever
And little or no knowledge of the Never Never

Take your old brown feet and walk
Get your people to join hands and be one
Make the black children stand together in Paradise
Whiteman is coming he thinks you’ll run
Knowledge of you, learnt through a gun

An angel appeared as I was reading the epilogue
Of a violent death
The death of an aboriginal man
Murdered by whites circa 1789
And the angel hovered within a bright light
That rose from the page
And this book was found amongst old ruins
In a rundown estate
My breath was taken from me
My soul was exposed to the devil
An aboriginal friend lost without reason
His colour was his crime
My angel said he was a great leader
A tribal elder of such esteem
He journeyed upon a farm seeking food
And his children thought him proud
White man did not understand his request
And an angel still stands as guardian of the good
Irrespective of colour and need

I am so black I make your tan look white
When you stand so close
I am so black I make your friends look worried
When they stand so close
I am so black I make a taxi’s brakes fail
When they come so close
I am so black I make bus drivers nervous
When the stop is so close
I am so black I make all Australians nervous
When a native is so close
I am so black I make John Howard afraid
When a sorry is so close
I am so black I no longer take the time with white man
When we are not so close

See the gallows Blackman
Then see your future
But we were so honest with you
Do not complain
We found you guilty because you are black
And no white man has confessed
You must hang
Twelve white men have said so

You wake up and discover your feet are black
For they are exposed
And you think you’re aboriginal
And you’re proud the body is black
A mother’s nomenclature is on some bloody government document
By force
You are a lost or stolen child
For better for worse
It’s a ridiculous debate
What good is an argument without equal rights?
Now you ask the question why?
And they criticise your right to do so
Have they ever been black?
Have they ever been a white man living in a black place?
That would make them black by default
Congratulations welcome to the racist struggle

After the dreamtime power
I went troppo
I went to a place in the sun
Not far from heaven
And there you were at the golden gate
Amazing grace I thought
Far north Arnhem Land your haven
My wish
Stand up you beautiful aboriginal girl
And just represent your wonderful people

Why can I not die?
I’m only aboriginal
Worthless
Jobless
Loveless
And the white fella has a problem with me
How sad
I am the keeper
Of the wide brown land
He is the keeper of the concrete jungle
Come to me
Live with me
Save the land with your white man knowledge
I doubt it
Why can I not die?
My land needs me
My land feeds me
My land loves me
My land owns me
I am the dreamtime agent
You are the trespasser

Please do not walk away, walk my way
See the colour of my life
Wander with me through my paradise
Of ant hills and bright ochres rife

I’m a proud native of this land, all this red sand
See the life that abounds
It’s bigger than the white fella vision
A multitude of silence and sounds

I offer this dreamtime menagerie, it’s yours for free
See where the aboriginal spirits ride
A sacred place a naked race a well etched face
Of true indigenous pride

I love you now
But you were always a beautiful Australian anyway
That your art was better than your colour is shame enough
White Fella’s gone mad
Aranda tribesman
A beautiful black aboriginal man named Albert by the Christians
Fame your only passport with llkalita
To a better life
And thank god you could paint a landscape son
Some sort of white rights if an aboriginal had fame
But you were always a beautiful Australian
My God, the Queen even loved you
Wisdom, courage you had it all
You made the bastards think
You brought art to all your people
The hope you planted was so necessary for your children
You are a beautiful Aboriginal man
Yet they hounded you
Those white ignoramuses had no idea
That you were always a special Australian talent
A world stage beckoning
Reverence would come
And Elea I love you always
And the world loves you and all of the racists are now biting their tongue
But not through your brilliant artworks
And not because of your skin colour
They simply can’t afford you anymore.