spoken word/poetry/performance for Healing Ground at St Johns Park, New Town, Tasmania
I have lived in the midst of Lies; in my family, the Anglican Church, and as a person of British ancestry in a country invaded and occupied by the British government. I am a white, privileged male, conceived of Empire. Australia, as I have experienced it, only exists within a colonial paradigm. The original inhabitants, the Aboriginal nations, have never ceded their Lands. The British remain as occupiers. Colonialism is not just my history; it is my very presence.
I am a ghost amongthe gum trees, anapparition of imagination,sent here, born here fromthose sent, sentenced, givena new life in a new Land, Diaspora,the chosen ones, the forgotten,the despised, excess of anEmpire; Lost.I did not choose to behere, my fate was sealed ondistant shores, by desperate folk,living disparate lives, unknown anduncertainty befell them, no land toclaim, no home to shelter, sentsailing to the four winds, manynever to see land again,buried; At sea.the Land I dwell in isnot my own, never was,never will be, covered withnames so familiar, with buildingsupon Places, hiding Knowledge I willnever fully comprehend, the fate thatbefalls me is that I live out a lieunder the premise of a nationfabricated; Alone.
St Johns Park, New Town, is situated on Crown land, claimed by the British in the early 19th century. Buildings commissioned by Governor Arthur include the Anglican Church and the boys and girls orphanages. The Anglican Church was complicit in the invasion and colonisation of Tasmania, the forceful removal of Aboriginal children from their families, and the Aboriginal Nations from their lands.
Image by Amy Brown Photography