Maralinga (Rainy Land)

This is a rainy land
This is a rainy land
No thunder in our sky
No trees stretching high
But this is a rainy land

My name is Yami Lester
I hear, I talk, I touch but I am blind
My story comes from darkness
Listen to my story now unwind
This is a rainy land

First we heard two big bangs
We thought it was the Great Snake digging holes
Then we saw the big cloud
Then the big, black mist began to roll
This is a rainy land

A strangeness on our skin
A soreness in our eyes like weeping fire
A pox upon our skin
A boulder on our backs all our lives

This is a rainy land
This is a rainy land
No thunder in our sky
No trees stretching high
But this is a rainy land

My name is Millipuddy
They captured me and roughly washed me down
Then my child stopped kicking
Then they took away my man to town
They said ‘Do you speak English?’
He said ‘1 know that Jesus loves me I know
Because the bible tells me so’

This is a rainy land
This is a rainy land
No thunder in our sky
No trees stretching high
But this is a rainy land