by Tony Birch
I take my grandson’s hand
gently squeeze the life of him
we lie sharing our bodies soft grass
the sky of all childhoods above
stillborn resting in ground below
he lays his head to my chest
my blood our blood he sleeps
21
Archie
first day on Earth
wrapped in love
wisps of dark hair
skin scent of life
tenacious limbs
he’s a Birch Boy
they smile reaching
the Birthing Centre
quiet tentative whispers
as if entering a Library
or perhaps a Morgue
I feel the departed
flowing through
my grandson
each week we walk
I grant him freedom
move close feel
warm breath on skin
22
4 am the Window
restless after a bout of strange dreams
drinking hot chocolate reading
poetry by a writer acclaiming
sweet light of early mornings
I want to call him on the phone
let the poet know I know
but don’t have his number
and who knows if he would answer
having been dead for decades
a mouse scuttles across the floor
(we avoid eye contact)
the garbos wake the street
disposing of all I cannot fathom
23
Cathedral
presence scents the church
carved stone oak pews holy water
hollowed footsteps of Believers
and a God I have no faith in
watching over the gathering
the time comes to speak
words stick in my mouth
the host of our Communion
a requiem for the dead
floated above the congregation
a blackbird arrived
hovering over me
lives shifted for and in this
momentary tilt of Earth’s axis
24
Leaving
a tree standing
on a vacant street
alone unclimbed
bluestone gutters
scabbed feet
running through water
brother’s joy trailing
a mother’s voice
calling the length of
a neighbourhood now deaf
the darkened house
a square-box sanctuary
skin washed clean
in the other room she sobbed
readying for the end
the yard rusting fence
dogs robbed of bark and bite
nails plaster creaking floors
bulldozed inflamed crushed
termite furnishings beds
bedbugs incinerated
a moment of light
a painted face of beauty
glimpsed in Saturday shop window
forever waiting our return
25
blood ties on every street corner aunties uncles cousins
grandparents haunted shades
of black on white all gone
26
SKIN
Image of Bhouta Khan’s hand, 7 July 1916
The Eight Truths of Khan i.
Immigration Restriction Act 1901
[Being the Matter of Bhouta Khan]
we certify on this day
the examination of the alien
to the Nation – Mr Bhouta Khan
& grant him permission to land
if he is able to show he is/or one or another of: a bona fide naturalized citizen of Australia holder of Certificate No. …
(or)
that he was born in Australia in the state of …
(or)
that he is the bona fide holder of Passport No. …
NOTE: we must strike out all reasons for his entry to our lands except that on which landing is allowed, which may not include marriage to a natural born Australian; which may not include love; which may not include human decency; which may not include reasons that Mr Bhouta Khan is a true man.
ADDITIONALLY NOTE: the handprints of Bhouta Khan, both left & right, are on the back hereof, along with photographic evidence, both portrait & left & right profile.
31
ii.
TESTIMONY (presented to THE COLLECTOR
H.M. CUSTOMS), Flinders Street, Melbourne, on the 26th day of June 1916)
I am Bhouta Khan, of 124 Young Street, Fitzroy & I beg to apply for a Certificate of Exception under the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, Section 4 (n) to visit the country of India for a period of six months with my immediate family. On solemn oath I undertake that I shall not return to Australia any relative, expired, revoked, of dark skin, dark eyes, foreign tongue or pagan habits, peculiar dress sense, exotic produce or accompanying animals, livestock or wild. I attach three character references & six unmounted photographs – three full face, three profile.
Self-attesting to my good character, please allow me to state that this day on the 24 June 1916 I arose from bed & went into the bathroom to shave. In the cracked mirror I saw a human being. I sat at the table in the kitchen with my wife
& child. We breathed together & we ate a meal together. I then went to the washhouse at the rear of the property & bathed my dark skin with disinfectant for some time. When I was satisfied that I had cleansed my physical body to the standard you require (Regulation 16, Section 2) I bathed a second time. Without your permission, my wife kissed my right cheek before I left the house for the working day. In the street I greeted neighbours with a discreet nod of the head & they returned the gesture, with the exception of the butcher on the nearest street corner who cordially addresses me as nigger each morning. I hold no malice toward him as I have not been granted permission by your department 32
to do so. During my working day, selling haberdashery and supplementary goods door-to-door in several neighbourhoods, I smiled regularly & I robbed no-one.
I did not look upon a white woman’s body & when asked, I agreed that yes, I was fortunate to be allowed to reside in such a fair and prosperous Nation. That evening I again sat with my wife & child, I again bathed & my wife & I shared the same bed.
If my application to travel is granted & if I am in fact allowed to return to this fine country without displaying a proficiency of language – Mandarin – please intimate the fact to me at the above address; Yours Faithfully, Mr Bhouta Khan.
ADDITIONALLY NOTE: the handprints of Bhouta Khan, both left & right, are on the back hereof, along with photographic evidence, both portrait & left & right profile.
33
iii.
Book No. 201
Form No. 21
Duplicate: No. 071
Certificate Exempting from Dictation Test I, Percy Whitton, the Collector of Customs, being Percy, a benevolent man, Percy, an upstanding Christian, Percy of the Order of Freemasons, Percy, descendant of Pioneers, hereby certify that Mr Bhouta Khan, who claims to be a man, be granted permission to be exempt from the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 for a period of three years.
To be certain that the Bhouta Khan who leaves this land is the same Bhouta who returns I submit to the Commonwealth the following description of him: Nationality: Indian
Age: 52 years
Height: 5 feet 7 inches
Build: workhorse
Complexion: dusky as sunset
Eyes: unknowable
Religion: unspeakable
ADDITIONALLY NOTE: the handprints of Bhouta Khan, both left & right, are on the back hereof, along with photographic evidence, both portrait & left & right profile.
34
iv.
STATUTORY DECLARATION – COMMONWEALTH
OF AUSTRALA
I, Bhouta Khan, Hawker, residing, living, being at do solemnly & sincerely declare, defer, etc., etc., I was born in British India to British India for the benefit of British India at Gurmalla in the year 1864
& sailed to the British Colony of Victoria in 1896 where I now reside. I also solemnly declare that upon entering the colony, the Nation – the fine Australian Nation –
was not in existence. I therefore additionally declare that I cannot be subject to a Nation that was an aberration not only in my mind, but in that of your founding fathers.
Additionally, therefore, I claim that I should be subject to regulations, sub-sections & paragraphs (etc.) adjudicated within the legal framework of Britain, not Australia, as the Empire covets for Eternity, Her global colonies.
I declare this statement at: Melbourne, Victoria on the 26th day of June 1916 before a:
Police; Special; or Stipendiary Magistrate; a Justice of The Peace; a Commis ioner of Affidavits; or a Commis ioner For Declarations Dog Licences & Fines – with the full knowledge that in making a false statement – in particular any statement
that sullies the Nation – that I will become liable to imprisonment, with or without hard labour (& possibly both), for a period of … years.
ADDITIONALLY NOTE: the handprints of Bhouta Khan, both left & right, are on the back hereof, along with photographic evidence, both portrait & left & right profile.
35
v.
Customs and Excise Office
3 July 1916
Memorandum:
To the Officer-in-Charge of Police
In order for the Commonwealth to accept
photographs of Mr Bhouta (Khan) in evidence the following procedures must be followed: applicant Khan should be seen, physically,
& compared to image held of him
by Customs, in grey metal filing cabinet
(alongside the oven) in staff kitchen
the photograph in the filing cabinet
must be shown by Officer to persons
providing certificates of character of (Khan) (alongside the oven) in the staff kitchen whether applicant (Khan) is known or unknown or a known-unknown, police must arrange
an interview with those providing certificates (alongside the oven) in the staff kitchen so that there be no doubt etc. as to the
identity of person under discussion (Khan) the photograph must also be sworn under oath (alongside the oven) in the staff kitchen if reason is to be provided that the applicant (Khan) is known to the police for any reason whatsoever he will be denied an Exemption Certificate (alongside the oven) in the staff kitchen 36
ADDITIONALLY NOTE: the handprints of Bhouta Khan, both left & right, are on the back hereof, along with photographic evidence, both portrait & left & right profile.
37
vi.
Report by Police Officer on/within Exemption Applications I, Senior Constable Cliff Hitchings, have made enquiries
& interviewed the applicant, Boota Khan. (Khan insists that his name be spelled as B.H.O.U.T.A., but having made additional enquiries, I note that on the original shipping document when Khan arrived in the Colony of Victoria, Immigration Officers gave preference to the spelling B.O.O.T.A. The phonetic generally suffices with foreign names & I have chosen to adopt such an approach here.) Khan states that he has resided in the Nation for seventeen years & that his occupation is a Hawker. The attached photographs appear to be that of the applicant, but I would suggest they & Khan both be examined by a forensic scientist, as his own skin appears to be several shades lighter than the Boota Khan of the photographs.
The attached testimonies attest that Khan is a man of sober character & a decent man, a good man, a true man. Not a white man, but a man nonetheless. To ascertain if the Boota Khan who presented himself to this office on this day is the same Boota Khan in the photographic images in addition to being the same Boota Khan discussed in the attached testimonies, I brought my Boota Khan before those citizens of Australia who had made representation on his behalf. It was agreed between myself & the two gentlemen concerned that the Boota Khan in our presence, the Boota Khan of six photographic images (three full front & three in profile)
& the Boota Khan of sober character, is the same person.
(Khan did not dispute our findings.) I therefore recommend that the photographs, the testimonies and the existence of Boota Khan be accepted as fact (in triplicate).
38
ADDITIONALLY NOTE: the handprints of Bhouta Khan, both left & right, are on the back hereof, along with photographic evidence, both portrait & left & right profile.
39
vii.
Testimony provided by Latoof & Callil Importers of Fancy Goods
262–4 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
16th June 1916
We wish herein to humbly certify
that we have known Bhouta Khan
for something like fifteen years.
Khan is honest, Khan is industrious,
Khan bathes regularly (in fact, several
times per day we are led to believe).
Khan keeps to himself with the exception
of providing occasional polite discourse
on matters excluding politics.
He defers, he looks a man in the eye
with due deference and respect.
We conclude that Khan is harmless
and therefore, no harm should come to him –
for now.
ADDITIONALLY NOTE: the handprints of Bhouta Khan, both left & right, are on the back hereof, along with photographic evidence, both portrait & left & right profile.
40
viii.
Testimony provided by J.H. Pritchard,
‘Elsa’, 14 Denmark Street, Kew
etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
Boota [sic] Khan of Young Street
Fitzroy for eighteen years – a Hawker is: Honest
Sober
Law-abiding
Reputable
Loyal
‘Boota Khan has never been any trouble to me He has never been any trouble to us
He will never be any trouble to the Nation Boota Khan may well be a man – as is his claim –
But he will never be a man of trouble.’
ADDITIONALLY NOTE: the handprints of Bhouta Khan, both left & right, are on the back hereof, along with photographic evidence both portrait & left & right profile.
41
The Silence
the natives are quiet
about the district of the bay
they are perfectly silent
the blacks here on my land
have carried themselves away
rendered their own Hell
having committed all deprivations
the aborigines have vanished
blood no longer runs
but in this stillness silence
they will return to haunt yet
and shadow our own sins
42
Forebearer
No. 1441: Archive and Heritage Office, Van Dieman’s Land Name: Moody (sic)
Height: A willing labourer
Age: Breeding
Complexion: Midnight
Head: 248 marbles
Physique: A Twelve-Hour Day
Hair: ‘Don’t Touch My Hair’
Forehead: High – Potential for Intelligence Eyes: Dark as Hell
Nose: Broken – three times
Mouth: Lips Thick
Remarks: A Man of Colour
Crime: Disobedience – 14 years hard labour 43
A Matter of Lives
murder reduced
to counting bodies
naming names
dates and days
processioning through
plagued streets
grief – a spectacle
feeding news
your life – no life – what
life – which and whose fucking life matters?
blank headlines
&nbs
p; faking news and tears
cannot condone
a living heart
a black woman asleep on a train
is no news is good news
until the day arrives
and she becomes
a fact of death
a number
the truth-telling face
of crimes of denial
44
Waiting for a Train with Thelma Plum Penrith Station sits broken
a grieving heart in pieces
the platform a way station for
essential workers living
dead-days of iso-lation
we have little time for each other
envying those slumbering at home
flannelette pyjama sleep-ins
raisin toast and hot Milo
lazily fucking the days away
Netflix and Zoom peering on
we slouch beaten
except for a Girl-In-Blak
kiss of life in black boots
black jeans and hoodie
black/red/yellow flag on her back
headphones soon to pounce
she moves raises an arm
fist clenched – ‘Hey! … Hey!’ –
Fuck That
45
Hygiene for a Nation’s Soul at water’s edge
cleansed myself
in your image
scoured this body
masked an eye
bowed to blindness
came up shadow
dancing hollow
stolen land
bleached a soul
hammered hands
and blackened feet
gouged a hole
for your inspection
46
A Native Surgeon’s Duties 1.
for the sum of twenty pounds
a fee to be attendant on bodies
of natives absent of home
2.
be duly present – on Wednesdays only
for sickness disease & death
of natives under our care
3.
for the sum of five pounds
additional for removal of remains
of natives absent of soul
4.
as duty bounds arrange
gravedigger & prayer for
burial in common ground
5.
for the sum of two pounds ex gratia
provide comfort & due diligence
for the sick maimed & broken
6.