Bora born
Singing the rainman
The dark night bright
with starry light,
in the heart of Walpiri country.
His home Hooker Creek
now Lajamanu,
where he lived in the Territory.
At night he would read,
the mind to free,
from the tensions of a long day.
Suffient to find
the peace of mind
for sleep to enter and play.
His mother had sent
a book to read
'Good News' the title had read.
Three times it had been
the end had been seen
near a pillow the Bible was kept.
Not his style
to read this kind
but his Mother had sent it to him.
A mother's love
has a way with men
I'm sure you know what I mean.
For only six weeks
his wife had stayed
along with their first daughter.
Then returning home
to where she was born
to deal with some legal matter.
A year it was
since she had left
an islander far from the sea.
Little water found
in this desert
a yearning to again be free.
This night had seen
an unusual thing
on the road 10 miles from town.
For an elder had asked
for a lift to the camp
where business was being done.
The trip was made
to ten mile after work
where these lads were now staying.
In a business camp
preparing them
for initiation into the community.
And so it was
on this starry night
as he lay down on his bed.
Another verse
from the Mother's gift
was slowly but surely read.
He could still hear
the distant chatter
from the drive-in just down the road.
He had seen the film
the previous night
a great way to lighten the load.
The long distance talk
carried on the still night air
then a dogs yelp and moan.
A child's cry heard
and motors start up
as people now made their way home.
The light was turned off
as he settled down
to a coming peaceful nights sleep.
In no time at all
he was beginning to fall
to that place soon to be deep.
The cool night air
drifted into the room
the bedroom door was also left open .
A muffled breath from
a horse in the yard
set the stage for what was to happen.
It came on the breeze
like an evening prayer
so subtle and in the background.
It was a sound in the yard
of a tarp being dragged
past the open bedroom window.
No voices were heard
as his senses lit up
to what was causing this dragging.
While the horse outside
kept grazing the grass
as if nothing was happening.
At first he thought
it was the horse
with a tarp caught on its leg.
But he tossed that idea
it didn't hold up
what else could be said.
The trouble was
the noise was slow
slow and soft as could be.
It didn't stop
it just kept on going
no stop start action you see.
He was tempted at first
to get up and look
but made no sense really.
The voice in his head
just simply said
somethings not right_ let it be.
Then it stopped
outside the room
near the tank stand full of rain water.
What on earth
had made this sound
tomorrow he would look a bit closer.
Then came a sound
that went around
in the air high above the building.
A drumming noise
from outside the room
to finish near the laundry.
The distance travelled
was 50 metres or so
from the bedroom to the laundry.
The time taken
about 20 seconds
for this cycle to happen.
Loud it sounded
for loud it was
like the sound of plumbing drumming.
High in the air
above the house
about 20 metres maybe.
A minutes break
then full on again
starting from outside his window.
'What the hell's going on?'
he said _ rising up now
an elbow on his pillow.
Another break
then another circuit
something really going on here.
To rumble again
around the house
to stop at that rear door.
And then from inside
a terrible sound
rang through the bowels of the night.
He thought of the shirts
and their wire hangers
on the washing machine _ flaying about.
'Good God,' he thought
'What's going on,'
as he started to rise from his bed.
To go through the door
and see the cause
of this noise inside the house.
No surprise was there
inside his head
that would wait till the next day.
A quick checklist said
all was locked before bed
could someone get in _ no way.
Up the hallway
of the house it came
drifting and loathesome and clinging.
A stench as foul
as could be imagined
to seal in his memory.
It came at him
near the bedroom door
as he was about to go through it.
He calmly closed
the door instead
with no fear or panic.
He knew now
it was not of this world
the floating stench had sealed this.
He had opened graves
and butchered animals
nothing had smelt like this.
So to his bed
without fear or dread
he went and reached for the Bible.
To open it up
placed under the pillow
then pass into deep sleep so quickly.
The morning after
he woke from that sleep
feeling he hadn't turned all night.
Then it all flashed back
of the drama now passed
'What the hell happened?' he thought.
He recalled the drumming
and the crash in the laundry
so he made his way there through the kitchen.
He was spot on all right
the wire hangers and shirts
were strewn all about the laundry.
The sound he heard
was from them coming down
the wire hangers hitting the machine.
The whole lot were down
as ten hangers were found
and a laundry door _ still keyed.
The windows he checked
the doors he checked
nowhere _ could anything get in.
So breakfast he made
then was ready for work
out through the front door he went.
As he locked the front door
he looked down the hill
in the direction of where he worked.
But stopped in his tracks
as he took in the scene
he had forgotten the noise he heard first.
It came with a rush
as he drew in his breath
he was right an old tarp it had been.
The shock came
as he now knew for sure
no animal had intervened.
An old tarp
had been pressed in the gap
between the tank and the end of the house.
Not on the ground
but high in the air
but who had been visiting here.
The very same day
he saw his friend
trained as a featherfoot since thirteen.
Who gave up his training
when as a young man
with his wife they became Christian.
This story he told
to his friend the next day
when he dropped in for a cup of tea.
The answer came back
he was being sung
but not from this country.
He was told it came
from a distance far away
and not from Walpiri country.
He suggested a place
like the Torres Strait
the featherfoot would not disagree.
He was also asked
to pray for his Mother
giving thanks for the Bible she sent him.
As the guardian spirit
who was standing by
was called to surround and protect him.
He also heard
that if he had gone
to the window that evening.
The spirit outside
would have entered inside
through the corner of the eye
to defeat him.
The only thing said
would be to find him in bed
with a heart failed while sleeping.
Then instructions he gave
to reflect back in time
to the one who had sent it.
To be done with prayer
and a few other things
like the Bible under a pillow.
And never to try
to find peace of mind
by trying the ways that had sung him.
He left the desert place
but kept his face
with all who got to know him.
The greatest teachers he found
were his brothers all around
as through secret business they took him.
The years have long passed
as he sometimes recalls
the honourable people he has lived with.
And new meaning has come
from the enlightened ones
and the dreaming he is challenged with.
To make sense of it all
we must enter his mind
but this is not easy to do.
So let him explain
what meaning he gained
from that night when the demons sought him.
***********
Thankyou so much
for reading this far
to the story my friend has been telling you.
It is true all right
no word is a lie
it happened in my mid twenties.
The singing that happened
on that dark starry night
did come from a place far away.
The drums that were heard
were the drums of Mer
and death carried their message.
The stench that night
is a sign that your visitor
is from the heirachy of hell.
So be sure to find
there is peace of mind
as your keeper is there to protect you.
The reason for
the deep sleep that night
was so consciousness was not affected.
I was protected this kind
as the demons were bound
by those called on to protect me.
The most incredible thing
is there was simply no fear
I know some of you won't believe me.
But I assure you this kind
in his presence you'll find
this happens _ as I have experienced it.
And why do you think
that something was sent
to weaken or destroy me.
I won't say
but it lives in the realms
the islanders call Purri Purri.
- O -
© 2004 _ Nhawrr yirrpa
with starry light,
in the heart of Walpiri country.
His home Hooker Creek
now Lajamanu,
where he lived in the Territory.
At night he would read,
the mind to free,
from the tensions of a long day.
Suffient to find
the peace of mind
for sleep to enter and play.
His mother had sent
a book to read
'Good News' the title had read.
Three times it had been
the end had been seen
near a pillow the Bible was kept.
Not his style
to read this kind
but his Mother had sent it to him.
A mother's love
has a way with men
I'm sure you know what I mean.
For only six weeks
his wife had stayed
along with their first daughter.
Then returning home
to where she was born
to deal with some legal matter.
A year it was
since she had left
an islander far from the sea.
Little water found
in this desert
a yearning to again be free.
This night had seen
an unusual thing
on the road 10 miles from town.
For an elder had asked
for a lift to the camp
where business was being done.
The trip was made
to ten mile after work
where these lads were now staying.
In a business camp
preparing them
for initiation into the community.
And so it was
on this starry night
as he lay down on his bed.
Another verse
from the Mother's gift
was slowly but surely read.
He could still hear
the distant chatter
from the drive-in just down the road.
He had seen the film
the previous night
a great way to lighten the load.
The long distance talk
carried on the still night air
then a dogs yelp and moan.
A child's cry heard
and motors start up
as people now made their way home.
The light was turned off
as he settled down
to a coming peaceful nights sleep.
In no time at all
he was beginning to fall
to that place soon to be deep.
The cool night air
drifted into the room
the bedroom door was also left open .
A muffled breath from
a horse in the yard
set the stage for what was to happen.
It came on the breeze
like an evening prayer
so subtle and in the background.
It was a sound in the yard
of a tarp being dragged
past the open bedroom window.
No voices were heard
as his senses lit up
to what was causing this dragging.
While the horse outside
kept grazing the grass
as if nothing was happening.
At first he thought
it was the horse
with a tarp caught on its leg.
But he tossed that idea
it didn't hold up
what else could be said.
The trouble was
the noise was slow
slow and soft as could be.
It didn't stop
it just kept on going
no stop start action you see.
He was tempted at first
to get up and look
but made no sense really.
The voice in his head
just simply said
somethings not right_ let it be.
Then it stopped
outside the room
near the tank stand full of rain water.
What on earth
had made this sound
tomorrow he would look a bit closer.
Then came a sound
that went around
in the air high above the building.
A drumming noise
from outside the room
to finish near the laundry.
The distance travelled
was 50 metres or so
from the bedroom to the laundry.
The time taken
about 20 seconds
for this cycle to happen.
Loud it sounded
for loud it was
like the sound of plumbing drumming.
High in the air
above the house
about 20 metres maybe.
A minutes break
then full on again
starting from outside his window.
'What the hell's going on?'
he said _ rising up now
an elbow on his pillow.
Another break
then another circuit
something really going on here.
To rumble again
around the house
to stop at that rear door.
And then from inside
a terrible sound
rang through the bowels of the night.
He thought of the shirts
and their wire hangers
on the washing machine _ flaying about.
'Good God,' he thought
'What's going on,'
as he started to rise from his bed.
To go through the door
and see the cause
of this noise inside the house.
No surprise was there
inside his head
that would wait till the next day.
A quick checklist said
all was locked before bed
could someone get in _ no way.
Up the hallway
of the house it came
drifting and loathesome and clinging.
A stench as foul
as could be imagined
to seal in his memory.
It came at him
near the bedroom door
as he was about to go through it.
He calmly closed
the door instead
with no fear or panic.
He knew now
it was not of this world
the floating stench had sealed this.
He had opened graves
and butchered animals
nothing had smelt like this.
So to his bed
without fear or dread
he went and reached for the Bible.
To open it up
placed under the pillow
then pass into deep sleep so quickly.
The morning after
he woke from that sleep
feeling he hadn't turned all night.
Then it all flashed back
of the drama now passed
'What the hell happened?' he thought.
He recalled the drumming
and the crash in the laundry
so he made his way there through the kitchen.
He was spot on all right
the wire hangers and shirts
were strewn all about the laundry.
The sound he heard
was from them coming down
the wire hangers hitting the machine.
The whole lot were down
as ten hangers were found
and a laundry door _ still keyed.
The windows he checked
the doors he checked
nowhere _ could anything get in.
So breakfast he made
then was ready for work
out through the front door he went.
As he locked the front door
he looked down the hill
in the direction of where he worked.
But stopped in his tracks
as he took in the scene
he had forgotten the noise he heard first.
It came with a rush
as he drew in his breath
he was right an old tarp it had been.
The shock came
as he now knew for sure
no animal had intervened.
An old tarp
had been pressed in the gap
between the tank and the end of the house.
Not on the ground
but high in the air
but who had been visiting here.
The very same day
he saw his friend
trained as a featherfoot since thirteen.
Who gave up his training
when as a young man
with his wife they became Christian.
This story he told
to his friend the next day
when he dropped in for a cup of tea.
The answer came back
he was being sung
but not from this country.
He was told it came
from a distance far away
and not from Walpiri country.
He suggested a place
like the Torres Strait
the featherfoot would not disagree.
He was also asked
to pray for his Mother
giving thanks for the Bible she sent him.
As the guardian spirit
who was standing by
was called to surround and protect him.
He also heard
that if he had gone
to the window that evening.
The spirit outside
would have entered inside
through the corner of the eye
to defeat him.
The only thing said
would be to find him in bed
with a heart failed while sleeping.
Then instructions he gave
to reflect back in time
to the one who had sent it.
To be done with prayer
and a few other things
like the Bible under a pillow.
And never to try
to find peace of mind
by trying the ways that had sung him.
He left the desert place
but kept his face
with all who got to know him.
The greatest teachers he found
were his brothers all around
as through secret business they took him.
The years have long passed
as he sometimes recalls
the honourable people he has lived with.
And new meaning has come
from the enlightened ones
and the dreaming he is challenged with.
To make sense of it all
we must enter his mind
but this is not easy to do.
So let him explain
what meaning he gained
from that night when the demons sought him.
***********
Thankyou so much
for reading this far
to the story my friend has been telling you.
It is true all right
no word is a lie
it happened in my mid twenties.
The singing that happened
on that dark starry night
did come from a place far away.
The drums that were heard
were the drums of Mer
and death carried their message.
The stench that night
is a sign that your visitor
is from the heirachy of hell.
So be sure to find
there is peace of mind
as your keeper is there to protect you.
The reason for
the deep sleep that night
was so consciousness was not affected.
I was protected this kind
as the demons were bound
by those called on to protect me.
The most incredible thing
is there was simply no fear
I know some of you won't believe me.
But I assure you this kind
in his presence you'll find
this happens _ as I have experienced it.
And why do you think
that something was sent
to weaken or destroy me.
I won't say
but it lives in the realms
the islanders call Purri Purri.
- O -
© 2004 _ Nhawrr yirrpa
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Singing the rainman
Singing the rainman
