Taunting slurs
You don't look Aboriginal
lost forlorn
Who am I?
in the yarning circle
the banksia is lit
Kaarla
it is passed around
woman to woman
like it always has been
by those who came before
You just think you're a Nyoongar
a gloomy room
a pale complexion
You're too distant
their whispers visit me in the dark

my spirit goes quiet there is no kaarla
there is no light
Am I distant?
home is a rocky place
far from here
Do I belong?
I concentrate on the kaarla
I go back to boodja
in my mind
I step with pale soles – and soul
on Country I'm homesick for
complexion doesn't matter
I am stronger than what they say
I am Nyoongar. I am Yamatji.
My boodja envelops me
a banksia kaarla
alway