Recently I travelled deep into the Utopia Homeland in the middle of the Northern Territory to work in some of the most remote schools in Australia. Right inside the belly of this amazing country I wrote haiku, made zines and did slam workshops with the primary and high school students. While I was there it was around 39 degrees, there were wind storms, night screams, dead cars, piles of the strangest, most random rubbish I've ever seen (like pool cues sticking out of the sand) kids sleeping on feral dogs, wild donkeys, herds of Brumby's making maroon dust clouds, engines glinting on driveways, dusk fires, struggling air conditioning and on the last day and it rained! It smelt like aloe vera on sunburned skin, cold honey on hot toast, truffles, potatoes, dirt, sand and wet sunshine. Apparently it was the first time in about 6 months and it lasted exactly 2 mins. The next day the desert was covered in flowers. I'm ridiculously honoured, humbled, amazed and bewildered by some of the things I've seen. I'm also shaken, disturbed, confused and angry. Out here I felt ALL the emotions. The only thing I could do was accept them and try to be brave, bold and fearless. And full to the brim with good ol fashioned love. And a bit of poetry.
the middle of the day
at school in the desert
fighting about water
*
red sand
do you turn black
at night?
*
in the big wide desert
finding a Toyota
a scorpion sits on the drivers seat
*
7.30pm in Ali Curung
fighting with the Yowie,
we make him cry
*
12 donkeys in a row
a man beeps his horn
hoofprints cloud the sand
haiku written by year 10 Ali Curung High
