Perentie Man, Ur- And Atticised Poem by Douglas Scotney

UR-

Follow a journey from its start to its out:

Out of Atarangu,
Wati Ngintaka (so called by the Anangu Pitjantjatjara;
called by whites, Perentie Man) ,
watched, from a hide, the grinding of tiny seeds
with a stone upon a stone:
the grinder was round and held in the hand,
and the flat stone was on the ground.

He clearly could see the cake that they ground
was finer, tastier than his own.

He entered the camp, and became a friend to every man;
even went out hunting; and that's where he hatched a plan:
'On the third day of the hunt
I'll spear myself in the toe
and stay alone at camp the next
then in my long-legged-lizard way
back home with the stones will I go'

He clearly couldn't see
it couldn't go to text.

Treachery discovered,
men tracked him through the land,
past rocks and plains, and chains of waterholes and mountains.
At Tjalpirkiri he made some tiny lizards
and put them on his track,
to trick his pursuers' 'eye-for-the-large'—
get them off his back.

Nevertheless and notwithstanding
they catch and search the guy,
but cannot find the stones:
they're hiding in his tail.
They search him again at Warawara,
but he blows them away, with a breath that's full of anger,
and has a rest, at a hole that is called Parmanga.

Over the creek at Tjaluwila
he's a red gum rearing high,
and the stones at Ututjulu show
he wasn't just passing by,
but spent a night,
and hid them
under the water out of sight.

The greatest tracker
sees country as the lizard
(and that includes all that the lizard will do) ,
and persuades others to see
that what he sees is true:

Perentie is the highest mountain,
also Ngaratjara,
from where he sees from where he came
and where he's going to;

he's Walan'nga, the big salt lake,
what he made when he rolled on his belly,
and swept his tail,
relishing the success of his take;

those strange circular marks
are his dried up vomit
from eating ripe ‘mistletoe' berries at
wait for it,
Ulkapatjunkunytja,
Ullkuhpuh - tchun - kunitchuh;

those scrape marks there at Tjanmata,
are where he scratched for ‘onions';

that cave there is kulpi,
and it's inside his belly;

and those circular marks at Pulpuriti
are from ‘gooseberries'.
The great tracker knows exactly what he said:
'lirini kalti-kaltirpungu
wanti kana kapata-patala',
'god those buggers are stinging my throat!
I've gotta vomit and vomit and vomit'

'Such an all-knowing tracker
no way! can I get away
I hid that flat stone
he's found it
I can hear them smashing it up
I must have made it ‘unclean'
now here I am at Wimaru
almost in sight of home
thrashing my tail and creating a gorge
and there they are
raising their spears

'I'm finished and I'm dead
Ilu

'My aunt cannot see the cloud
that circled round my head
she will send her sons
kanyala and malu
who'll trick those men into a cave
where they will die
no exit clue.'

IN THE ATTIC:

Wati Ngintaka, Perentie Man,
watched from a hide
the grinding of seeds
with a stone upon a stone,
seeing clearly flour
finer than his own.

He befriended the men
and when out on a hunt
began to hatch a plan:
'I'll spear myself in the toe,
and stay in camp next day,
then while they're all away
I'll steal the stones and go.'

Treachery discovered,
they tracked him through the land,
past mountains and plains,
and rocks, and waterholes in chains.

They saw he'd made some tiny lizards
and put them on his track:
confusing large with small
to get them off his back.

When they caught him at last
they couldn't find the stones.
They were hidden in his tail.
They searched him again at Wara Wara
but he blew them away
with a breath that was full of anger,
and had a rest
at a hole that's called Parmanga.

But men of the stones
see country and lizard as one
and stay on track
until the job is done.

'See the red-gum rearing high,
at the creek at Tjaluwila:
he's that fella;

'those stones in the creek at Utitjulu
show he wasn't just passing by,
but spent a night
and hid our stones
beneath the water
out of sight.

'Perentie is Ngaratjara,
the highest ground he knows,
from where he sees where he was
and where it is he goes.

'He's Walan'nga, the big salt lake,
that he made rolling his belly
and sweeping his tail,
relishing his take.

'At Ulkapatjunkunytja,
those strange circular marks
are the mistletoe berries he chucked.

'Those scrapes at Tjanmata
are where he scratched for onions.

'That cave there is Kulpi,
the inside of his belly,

'and there, at Pulpuriti,
he vomited gooseberries...
I can hear exactly what he said,
'Lirini kalti-kaltir pungu
wanti kana kapata-patala.'
He's saying the buggers are stinging his throat
and making him sick in the head.'

'Damn those smart-arse trackers:
not a thing I do or say,
they cannot see or hear! '
cursed Perentie Man,
thrashing around at Wimaru,
making the gorge as he died
with a spear in his side.

'Auntie can't see me,

I'm hidden in cloud...

and there's a big one
taking over my brain...

her sons will lead them
into a cave...

and they'll never come out
again.'