Gudjugudju

As a little girl who would grow up without her dad

My Pop gave me something none of the other kids had.

My language name; Gudjugudju.

Gudjugudju is the Rainbow.

Pop gave it to me as a baby

and it will follow me wherever I go.

This name I dearly value

and I carry it with pride.

It’s not a superpower or magic spell

but it feels like that inside.

Before Pop passed away

he had many grandchildren.

I was the only one

to which a language name was given.

In a world where I am too white to be black

and too black to be white.

My hair is too curly, my nose is too big

and nothing about me fits just right.

I cry, I cry because

it's these things I want to change.

Change my hair, change my nose

and even change my name.

But who would I become?

Not the child my grandfather knew.

I’d take away the honour

of being his Gudjugudju.

Each colour of the rainbow

is a great big part of my life.

Though sometimes the nights are too dark

and the days are just too bright.

From the dry brown outback

to the tall grey city streets,

Green tropical rainforests

and distant blue seas.

The colours are with me,

Wherever I step there they will go.

In the path I leave behind me

There’s that multi-coloured bow.

When he carried me high up on his shoulders

I was safe looking down on the world.

There was always gold in the eyes of this Rainbow

because I was my Pop’s little girl.