Silence Is Consent
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About this ebook
‘Silence is consent’ –
my effort to wake the sleeping
to speak up for the oppressed.
My thanks and admiration
for those tirelessly advocating
comforting and dissenting
for those trying to turn the tide.
My tears for the pain of the detained
and my country, disrespected, burning.
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Book preview
Silence Is Consent - Rosemary Winderlich
Silence Is Consent
Rosemary Winderlich
Ginninderra PressSilence Is Consent
ISBN 978 1 76041 849 6
Copyright © text Rosemary Winderlich 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for permission should be sent to the publisher at the address below.
First published 2020 by
Ginninderra Press
PO Box 3461 Port Adelaide 5015
www.ginninderrapress.com.au
Contents
Foreword
Silence Is Consent
Foreword
These poems are my response to a disgraceful chapter of Australian history.
Friends on Manus and Nauru, and in detention elsewhere, I feel pain and despair for your suffering, but I have not personally experienced your situation, so please forgive me if sometimes I do not reflect your experience well, or seem to belittle your pain. I mean to be respectful. I am careful about sources, and try to avoid sensationalising. Please forgive my mistakes. I feel strongly that we must all be ready to speak up, no matter what the cost, because…
…silence is consent.
Silence Is Consent
Going under?
Australia, land of the free, of opportunity
spiralling out of control, regressing
diet of careful lies blinding our eyes
deadening sensibilities
false promises created to demoralise
deals and tricks…so much to hide
devolving into a dictatorship
ruled by secrecy, self interest.
Where are we going but downhill fast?
What will we be when we get there?
Land down under going under
slipping down down
between layers of sewerage and waste.
What a sad waste!
Hold on, hold on to shreds of decency.
We can, we can claw back, crawl back
up the disgusting slide of deceit and cruelty
denial, avoidance of responsibility.
We can climb back to honesty and dignity
free Australia fair, wounded, desecrated
buried down there, where dark things hide
dirtied and scarred, blinded by lies
but still a sleeping conscience deep inside.
Wake up! Climb up with me!
Break our chains by setting others free.
A nation of boat people
My heart full of others’ pain –
a pale reflection of their pain.
Can’t sleep…so much sadness, deceit
children exploited in this century?
The Industrial Revolution
no work, thieves hung
or sent around the world as convicts
for stealing to feed their children
then Scottish and Irish enclosures
land stolen by the rich.
One grandfather came as a missionary.
Austrian, German, Polish, Danish
in my family tree, now all Australians
then ten-pound Poms, Jews, Greeks, Italians
Balts, and more, all dispossessed by war.
Then the Asian flow from nearer wars
most now valuable citizens.
Further back in time, archeologists say
there were three waves of Aboriginals
some over land bridge, some by canoes
the first boat people, the first Australians.
So here we are, a nation of boat people
all contributing to a wonderful diversity
still some inequalities and tensions
but a rich nation, with space to share.
Why can’t we welcome more?
Refugee Policy
Our rotten migrant policy is battering Australia
gradually indoctrinating in the threat of difference
hardening the perpetrators, damaging their souls
teaching cruelty and indifference to our own children
who understand more than we give them credit for
and will probably grow up to do as we have done.
Amendments enacted to protect our politicians
loopholes shut and freedoms curtailed
impossible to recognise the old, fair Australia.
What have we become?
Perhaps our politicians believe they are protecting us
perhaps convince themselves they deserve our thanks?
I believe with all my heart they are damaging our future
creating a generation that will follow in their footsteps.
Kindness and justice will continue to diminish
so the world we leave our children will be very different
from the era we have lived in
sadly
more like a dictatorship.
In the camp
Child’s eyes question
Why? Why?
Time passes
blossom dries
fries in white heat
forty degrees or more
in barren camp.
A tropical island
climate ideal
while away hours
relax by the pool
frangipani and hibiscus flowers
under wide spreading trees
soft breeze through leaves
peaceful and cool.
Not where the children are
no shade, sun burns
no shady trees, no ferns
heat harsh
mineral sands reflect sun
hot air, hot feet.
Hearts empty
nerves unravel.
Hope dies.
Beyond grief
Unwanted, forgotten
agonising for their children
grasping distant hope
for their children
believing hope still shines
in blue infinity up there
and somewhere
is safety for the children.
Broken promises
treacherous steps to climb
dark tunnels to negotiate
to where?
Anywhere. Elsewhere.
Thrust trust into a vacuum
step into the unknown
clasping the children.
Reward for courage, initiative…
more rejection
punishment for existence
punishment for hope.
Where is a place to relax and know