✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Stories Between Time was a Riverland wellbeing project set to bring a small group of First Nations Elders with non-Aboriginal young people to meet, hear stories and perspectives.
This project was brought together by FocusOne Health, headspace Berri and Closing the Gap Riverland.
Aunty Yvonne (Yvonne Koolmatrie) often reminisced about her love for the Murray River — it is our home, it connects us in more ways than one. Her words stuck with Kirste throughout these sessions.
Symposium was a youth-led project (as part of Part of Things, jointly with Berri Barmera Council and Barmera Central, supported by District Council of Loxton Waikerie and Renmark Paringa Council). A cohort of young people developed a weekend of workshops dedicated to skills building
As one of the founders of Symposium, Kirste experienced first-hand how people are ready to help, connect, learn and celebrate. That’s what inspired this piece.
THE BONE FISH – a commissioned response to Cathedral by Caleb Lewis
the bone fish
cradles memories
swallows sorrows
draws them to the depths of the ocean
you follow it
glinting scales lead you down
down
down
echos glow bright in its belly
they bleed blue from its gills
along clay ripples
wisping upward like silt
run a hand through it
the ocean dares
your fingers pass through like smoke
curling between the gaps
holding a hand you can’t quite reach
it trails up your arm
winds around your waist
warm
comfort
goodnight
good morning
around your shoulders
tickling ears with unfinished whispers
remnants of last kisses trace your throat
and the left over grief
chokes
the bone fish—
—collects.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
kirste jade 