A day of meaning,
and a day of menace.
A day of cultural arrival,
and cultural denial.
A day of celebration,
and a day of decimation.
A day to unite,
that also divides.
Where history is spun,
we are many, but one.
When much of a brief history is spoken,
yet the history of thousands of years is forsaken.
One boat people denying others,
opportunity to join us as sisters and brothers.
When “patriots” drink and brag,
wrapped in the symbolism of a flag,
that carries the flag of another nation,
the seven pointed star of federation,
and the great emblem of the Southern Cross,
that many have tattooed into their skin, embossed.
YES, let’s celebrate this great southern land,
the glorious gift, temporarily held in our hands,
but let us do it so that every day,
for ALL our people, really is Australia Day.