in
the strategies of war
stealing
children
is
a multigenerational
weapon
Fethiye
Çetin tells
of
her grandmother
kidnapped
from her
fleeing
Armenian family
by
a Turkish general
aged
twelve too old
to
forget old enough
to
pretend and pass
for
sixty years
Eva
Johnson born at
Daly
River aged two
stolen
by missionaries
raised
by those who
occupied
her peoples'
land
at ten sent to
an Adelaide
orphanage
she
writes plays about
dispossession
Estela
Barnes de Carlotto
president
of the Grand-
mothers
de Plaza de Mayo
carries
photos of her daughter
and
granddaughter in protests
about
the theft by military
of
her daughter's child
Australia's
Stolen Generation
is
presented as a
bureaucratic
aberration
let's
see it for what it is
a
weapon of war
You can read more
about Fethiye Çetin's book, My
Grandmother here: http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/Bookstore/book/id=206/
The anthology, The Exploding Frangipani includes an
extract from Eva Johnson's play, What do they call me? (the anthology is co-edited by Cathie Dunsford and Susan Hawthorne). The whole play can be read in
Dale Spender's edited collection Heroines.
She also wrote Tjindarella, a play specifically about the Stolen Generation.
In the photo above,
the double image near the front of the protest is of Laura Estela Carlotto,
disappeared in 1977 and her daughter, Mariana Zaffaroni who has been found. The
photo is in the Casa por la Identidad Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo at ESMA in
Buenos Aires.
For more on the
grandmothers search for their grandchildren, including the story of how Mariana
was found, see Rita Arditti's book, Searching
for Life.
war is the state against babies
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI can barely speak
you speak for them
horror & heartbreak
terror is a landmine
planted in a football field
where is the x-ray helicopter
if we cannot write
Yesterday at the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos now in Santiago ( I thought of Victor Jara) we watched videos of the coup. It was horrible and extraordinary, a real surgical strike, so that 12 hours after the first attack at 6.00 am they had it all in hand. I was exhausted after that museum trip.
DeleteAnother powerful poem Susan. Thank you for the detailed further reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lizz.
DeleteA terrible war of attrition, but a guerilla one still. Bless you what a lovely poem.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kerri. Glad you think so.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletetras. isaac dentrambasaguas
allende
grande espina de un país
nieve de un extremo al otro
y habrá sido valentía aquí
vertebral al fin y al cabo
tanques y aviones y dinero desgarrando
y adivinen quién paga todo esto
este fuera un fin
destinado a ser un comienzo
fuera el suelo desplomado, la escalera
ida, la mano amiga, un muñón amputado
uno desea atestiguar
uno atestigua deseos
de un mundo desaparecido, historia vieja
uno desea al desaparecido (mundo) de vuelta en casa
con buenas obras, con grandes pensamientos
uno desea bombas ascendiendo, el palacio a salvo
uno desea a los que odian renaciendo para el amor
uno desea la trama aquí avanzada avanzando
uno desea que el futuro fuera de vuelta con nos
con esta visión, con la voz
de este hombre en nuestro oído
con la respiración
con el bombeo sincero del corazón
con los ojos y los oídos y todos los sentidos
uno desea para un mundo mejor
Thanks Kit, not sure my Spanish is getting all the menaings of this poem. It's a case of thinking I understand the gist! I will have to work at it.
DeleteTear in my eyes Susan. Thank you!
ReplyDelete