Australian Aboriginal Rock Art, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australila
Detail, Poetry, Ricoh RF 500
by Patrick Jennings

Walkabout

I go on walkabout
With my dilly bag
Spear thrower and spears
And a goose feather fan
No more than that
But a song in my heart
The song of my spirit
The song of the land

The song which awoke my world
And all it’s things and beings
Given to me by birthright
To learn
From coast to coast
The totemic songline
Which my Ancestor sang
Singing the world
Into being

2,000 year-old Aboriginal Rock Painting
Kakadu National Park
Northern Territory, Australia

Taken during travels, 1994

A poem about Australian Aboriginal Songlines, and a caretaker of a particular songline going on walkabout to learn parts of it he has not yet traversed.