We Are All Aborigines
Karl Constantine FOLKES 1935 (Portland)
Often, at nighttime,
I enter Jukurrpa world.
The world of dreaming.
Dreamers’ native residence;
Eternal — uncreated.
Like world of Tao,
It appears as ‘un-carved block.’
Unsullied nature.
Its complexity hidden
In simplicity of form.
This world of dreaming,
Without circumference
That can ever be measured,
Encompasses existence:
The Past, Present — and Future.
When we are awake,
Is when we tend to forget
We are all dreamers.
Dreaming that we are awake;
Yet asleep — and still dreaming.
We are dream weavers.
Weaving dreams of dream weavers.
Dreams called ‘Existence.’
Crafted by Jukurrpa world;
The world of ancient spirits.
With ancient atoms,
We are aborigines.
A tribal people.
Distanced — and separated;
Divided by foreign tongues.
Our seed has been spread
To inhabit everywhere.
Each parcel of land.
We are in every faces;
Those ‘foreign’ — and ‘domestic,’
Let us not forget
We are brothers and sisters.
Spirit reminds us;
To look deep within ourselves.
Where we are all sealed — as One.
We are shapeshifters.
Assuming many ‘races.’
Many outer forms.
Our outer skin is garment.
Within — we remain as One.
Jukurrpa informs:
The Spirit is container;
Container of All.
All spawned by Alcheringa;
Ancient Divine Protector.
We are all spawned by
Alcheringa Dreamtime.
Our ancient forebears
Guarding our ancestral myths.
And preserving our history.
We are one people.
We are all the same people.
Jukurrpa people
In every space of the world.
We are ab-Origines.
The ‘Great Everywhen,’
The Universal Spirit
In every atom;
Manifested globally,
Informs us — we are One.
About this poem
The Spirit as the Source within us, as the Holy mystical ‘Bereshit,’ is the container of the All. Maintaining and preserving within our skulls our ancient mammalian hind brain of myth making, we are all aborigines, all indigenous to Planet Earth. All of us, like Adam and Eve, come from the soil and, in the end, all return to the soil. In our outer, newer forebrain appearance of cognition, all of us outwardly display different mannerisms, different shades of culture, customs, languages and beliefs. Beneath our skin, our soul is protected by the same Universal Spirit that unceasingly reminds us that we, collectively as members of the human race, are of the same origin. The terms used in this poem, “Jukurrpa” and “Alcheringa,” refer to Australian Aboriginal expressions or concepts relating to ancient mythical beliefs concerning our governing by a collective archetypal Dreamtime described as “the eternal” or “the uncreated;” a concept that is akin to the Taoist concept of “Pu,” known otherwise as the primordial “un-carved block” in its purest state of existence. This tanka poem celebrates the common ancestral heritage of the human race. By the sacred water hole of Pikilyi Springs, there shall we, on entering, dream dreams of Jukurrpa World. more »
Written on December 16, 2022
Submitted by karlcfolkes on December 16, 2022
Modified by karlcfolkes
- 1:37 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCDB XXEFX CDXDE GHIGC IIDBX XXJXX XXXKX HIXXF DKLXF LEXCE XAXXM JJJBD FXXMF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,623 |
Words | 326 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
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"We Are All Aborigines" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 25 Mar. 2023. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/146675/we-are-all-aborigines>.
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