I am the huddle at the door
I am the sound of disbelief
I am the awkward in the car
I am the mystery touch of grief
I am the baby blanket never used
The empty pram that gathers dust
The empty cot with teddy bears
The silent tears in silent eyes
I am the toys without a toddler
The empty birthday with no cake
The empty name without a face
The whisper lost within the why
I am the sin that lies unsolved
I am the unsaid glance of blame
I am the hurting unresolved
I am the baby lost by shame
Ali Cobby Eckermann is a Yankunytjatjara grandmother; her poetry advocates her love for her people and red sand country. In 2014 Ali attended the International Writing Program in Iowa USA and in 2017 won the inaugural Windham Campbell Award for Poetry from Yale University. Her latest release
she is the earth won the NSW Literary Book Of The Year award in 2024.
Seemantini Gupta is a journalist with the Bangla language daily newspaper,
Ananda Bazaar Patrika. She is a freelance translator and translates mostly between Bangla and English. She has co-edited, with Mridula Nath Chakraborty, a collection of thrity-nince poems and one short story, with a critical edition, of Nunga poet Ali Cobby Eckermann, into Bangla, titled
Abohelar Bhangan Naame Booke / Broken by Neglect (Jadavpur University 2014).
