The town of Alice Springs, nestled at the foot of the
McDonnell Ranges in the remote desert lands of Central Australia,
is about to see the opening of its first "Hamburger Restaurant,"
courtesy of you know who. The Aboriginal traditional owners of
this land suffer diet induced diabetes and heart disease at rates
many times the national average. The following poem is my
response. It has just been printed in the local Alice Springs paper.McPOEM
Take away, take away
taken away
gone!
Take away our health.
Take away the wealth of the land.
The desert sands will bloom
beneath this Coca Cola rain,
bringing forth a painful blossom
of bright red paper cups
from the soggy mulch of
burger cartons,
french fries
and the empty lies
of yesterday's
discarded junk mail.The pale faced clown
presides above it all,
laughing at the jokes
the profit margins tell
in prosperous whispers
none are meant to hear.
Come nearer.
If we buy,
he will sell us
all we think we need.
His advertisements stoke
our well conditioned greed.Golden arches frame the night -
a whitefella sacred site
calling those who truly own the land -
diabetic bodies already branded
by the white man's food.
And they will come
in the morning light,
to see a sight reflected
in plate glass windows
once familiar,
now strange -
the sunstruck mountains
of the caterpillar dreaming.
Yeperrenye now renamed -
McDonalds Range.
David Kirkby
Alice Springs
Australia
November 1996
None.