My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed:
I will sing and make melody.
Awake, my soul, and awake, sticks and didj:
for I will awake the morning.
I will play the didj, O Lord, among the peoples:
its circle buzzing breathes our gratitude.
I will chip your clapping sticks among the nations:
its clicking claims your eternal praise.
For the dawn in the east rises in gold and scarlet:
robes of Easter and Pentecost overwhelm the sky.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds:
and the land is a body painted with white and ochre dreamings.
Be exalted, O God, above the southern skies:
and let your glory shine over Noongar country;
That all whom you love may be delivered:
Noongars and wedulahs, O save us by your right hand, and answer us.
***
(Acknowledging Professor David Frost’s version of Psalm 108 in A Prayer Book for Australia)
The ‘didj’ (didgeridoo) was technically not a part of Noongar culture before the arrival of Europeans, but they have adopted it since contact with ‘wedulahs’ (white fellas) has brought them into contact with other Indigenous groups.
My country of origin is Koreng country. I now live in Wardandi country.
Mind Journeys 