1. 

his racism compels an energy that grows me 

a garden his Team Australia digs 

my shovel deeper his Northern Territory 

Intervention layers my compost-pile higher his 

Operation Sovereign Borders pulls my 

noxious-weeds faster his Forced Closure of 

Remote Aboriginal Communities renders my 

pruning-saw blunt and his Climate- 

Change Denial distils my rage to 

sweat drip soak feed every seed sown 

for transformation.
2. 

my daughter makes potions from this 

garden she slices lemons with oyster-shells soaks 

violets herbs and curry leaves with eucalyptus- 

blossom a cultural-fusion concentration brews 

her tea-pot and a big sky-full of love and 

glitter swills her offerings I recite queer 

and decolonisation-poetry to my children in this 

garden resistance-poets agitate the soil their 

words germinate uprisings on the freesia-scent 

of spring every new bud tells a survival story we 

raise our potion-filled tea-cups to the sun to 

thank them.
3. 

Dear Prime Minister your leadership ignites 

alchemy in this garden making rich 

soil brewing potions and shaping little 

activists who harvest sweet-offerings to counter 

the bitter after-taste of you remember 

this we are your deepest roots your 

legacy we won’t cultivate fear and 

bigotry we will blister our hands sow seeds of 

hope and tear down your white-picket-fence 

borders we will light our fires to sit around share 

food sing to our Old Ones we will 

pollinate humanity with rainbows on every 

horizon under a float of red-black- 

yellow this our every garden. 


Originally published Wasafiri, International Contemporary Writing, Vol. 31, No. 2, June 2016, p. 26.