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Gedicht

Ali Cobby Eckermann

First Time (I Met My Grandmother)

First Time (I Met My Grandmother)

First Time (I Met My Grandmother)

Sit down in the dirt and brush away the flies
Sit down in the dirt and avoid the many eyes

I never done no wrong to you, so why you look at me?
But if you gotta check me out, well go ahead – feel free!

I feel that magic thing you do, you crawl beneath my skin
To read the story of my Soul, to find out where I been

And now yous’ mob you make me wait, so I just sit and sit
English words seem useless, I know Language just a bit

I sit quiet way, not lonely, ’cos this country sings loud Songs
I never been out here before, but I feel like I belong

It’s three days now, the mob comes back, big smiles are on their face
‘This your Grandmother’s Country here, this is your homeland place’

‘We got a shock when we seen you, you got your Nana’s face
We was real sad when she went missing in that cold Port Pirie place’

I understand the feelings now, tears push behind my eyes
I’ll sit on this soil anytime, and brush away the flies

I’ll dance with mob on this red Land, munda wiru place
I’ll dance away them half caste lies ’cos I got my Nana’s face!
Ali Cobby Eckermann

Ali Cobby Eckermann

(Australië, 1963)

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First Time (I Met My Grandmother)

Sit down in the dirt and brush away the flies
Sit down in the dirt and avoid the many eyes

I never done no wrong to you, so why you look at me?
But if you gotta check me out, well go ahead – feel free!

I feel that magic thing you do, you crawl beneath my skin
To read the story of my Soul, to find out where I been

And now yous’ mob you make me wait, so I just sit and sit
English words seem useless, I know Language just a bit

I sit quiet way, not lonely, ’cos this country sings loud Songs
I never been out here before, but I feel like I belong

It’s three days now, the mob comes back, big smiles are on their face
‘This your Grandmother’s Country here, this is your homeland place’

‘We got a shock when we seen you, you got your Nana’s face
We was real sad when she went missing in that cold Port Pirie place’

I understand the feelings now, tears push behind my eyes
I’ll sit on this soil anytime, and brush away the flies

I’ll dance with mob on this red Land, munda wiru place
I’ll dance away them half caste lies ’cos I got my Nana’s face!

First Time (I Met My Grandmother)

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
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