A Federal Fiddle
Little girls
Black girls
Legs splayed for finger
Skin poised in latex.
Forensic folly in gel.
Little boys
Black boys
Bent over and coughing?
Surgical gloves taught
With secret wants.
A national emergency
Says the Prime Minister
Twenty years too late.
A novel sleight of hand
Aboriginal life to invade.
Kindly police
Friendly army
Penetrating families on demand.
Extracting The Truth by command.
Smiling, exulted to help.
This is not my story
Nor is it an Australian story
It is the last desperate measure
Of a man with no shame.
Illusion wishing for historical fame.
Personal suffering
Community crisis
Political grandstanding white
Pointing at black.
National emergency: Global disgrace.
© Lindy Warrell
Wet Ink Summer (December) 2007