it's fine, it's clear, you are here, your homesickness will not last

Ons het vandag bietjie by Centennial Park gaan fietsry, toe het ek die volgende paar fotos geneem:






Ek loop toe die volgende gedig raak op 'n plaat met inskripsie op die grond naby een van die plekke ter ere van immigrante:


This freedom - we sometimes find it here,
fragile, in a wild land we did not understand
full of nations of a kind before we came and more to come
still we grow to love
must learn to forgive ourselves
making stranger into friend

our steps much lighter now
and more gentle on the ground

the past a message in trees and waves,
and in your palm your history mingles with the earth

and from the mouths of the wise ones
custodians sing a Law of living
that writes us
yields its path

and gives us message of repair that says:
'it's fine,
it's clear
you are here
your homesickness will not last
you're home within us,
clear path to sweet water:
all spirits be spoken for.'

Adam Aitken
2001