I watch the blaring tv,
the sound of some news reporter showing dead people across the road.
Words like ‘justice’ and ‘freedom’ scribed on posters toppled over them.–
My Dad and I are in the garden,
It’s a typical Sunday morning – bright and sunny
in the tepid wintry sun planting the winter harvest.Beside us, a flock of birds swoop at the ground where we sprawled seeds and grains for them to eat.
‘When we are given food, we should always thank three things’ Pappa always said.
one – the Creator; the one light
two – kudrat (nature); hence, feed the birds
three – kisaan (farmers), we don’t get any food without them bearing it all for usdroughts, bushfires, bad crops, income, urbanisation
everything.–
We sow the mustard, spinach, carrots and beet.
I monitor the crops every week.
Week 1 – nothing
Week 2 – a little green shrub
…rain, rain, rain…–
I watch the blaring tv,
the sound of some news reporter showing flooded expanses of land in the state,
words like ‘climate change’ scribed on posters everywhere.–
After twelve weeks, the crops have grown, rot and decomposed in the same soil
in our little 200 square metres of land
it’s nothing.
But I know it – we’ve failed our proud ancestor farmers.
In the boggy soil, I saw the rich umber tones turn into ochre and khaki
The same khaki of my Dadda ji’s uniform – he knew the fate of the farmers
My Dad left his homeland, sold his land
Now I can’t even manage to grow a few crops in our backyard.Now I know why we left.
–
I watch the blaring tv,
378 days and the protest has finally ended.
Water wells in my eyes as I yell in fury and hurt
the tv blares images of elderly people screaming excitedly; going home to resume their endless cycle of
farming and fighting–
I watch the blaring tv,
people’s belongings and homes destroyed
water wells in my eyes as I yell in fury and hurt
the tv blares images of sunlight, the worst of the flood has ended and we all go back to resume this endless cycle of
climate change
cultural identityand confusion.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones