Three rivers run
in my blood, where my mother takes
me home, where mud lives between toes, and rain
is a creature that transforms before my eyes, into river water
falling from rocks into my blood, stepping
carefully along Country, breaking
it gently as it does.Here where I river-float
with my ancestor brother. I make ripples
he doesn’t. We’re laughing at Dad, tellin again
how Billabong comes from a Wiradjuri word. Old man crow
is eyein us from the banks. We know it’s
Grandfather tellin us youngfullas
“Respect your Elders.”This River is old
like Earth’s granite bones
endorheic and slowing, for marsh lovers
reed weavers, for migratory mob. This River flows
old magic backwards from sea, makes saltwater
spirits in freshwater
shallows.This river
is swollen with matriarchy
she’s boiling, flooded and cold
she jumps dams, eats earth with insatiable hunger, dumps fish
on front lawns, puts a couch in the tree
tells the kids “Get in
here NOW!”This river
inhales and exhales
with the tides, she is connected to the rhythm
of all things, pulled and pushed by the gravity of dark matter
she flows where she wants, grows where she wants
and menstruates mud
along coastline.River’s name is
changed from the place where
Brolgas played to the name of a man who once
owned a company, a company that changes the shape
of the river, bares Country of bush
makes it barren
and used.This English language
is full of polite words for things
that are violent. Ownership. Colonisation.
Non-consensual. Stolen. Dredging. Damming. Irrigation.
Mining. Aqueduct. Rape. River sleeps this year.
Sleeps deep. Where river?
Here river.My river, my river
my river is a finger of universe
pointing, is spring-fed, is snowmelt
is rain-filled, is flesh warmed on bones, is Country
knowing, flowing, flooding, my river
my body, your river, our body
soon may be gone.
- 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