No Worries (for David Gulpilil)
David Gulpilil
From the Mandhalpingu clan of the Yolngu people
Appeared,
as if from nowhere,
sniffing the air.
When he spoke, it was as if his words
Had always been with us.
We listened as if hearing for the first time
One leg he said in whitefella world
One leg in the dreaming.
His story
Fell upon us, like the rain of rains,
Bearing the lineage of his people,
Holding lightning in his eyes,
We fed him fame, crowned him king
Watched him soar between two worlds
Let him drink and almost drown.
In the shade of Murray Bridge town
David Gulpilil
From the Mandhalpingu clan of the Yolngu people
Smiled the smile of ages.
He sang the song of his father
And disappeared.
An invisible crocodile beneath the river’s banks.
© NO WORRIES. 2021. Terry McArthur. Blue Pearl Music.
