Big Black Car

Big Black Car

The big black car came
to take away the children.
From countless nightmares,
thousands of these helpless ones
would wake and cry;
not from fear of the shadowy Bunyip
or deep-night dwelling Gabba Gabba,
Woowee Wowee, Yaa-loo, Dongu
or even the mischievous Mimi spirit;
but the Big Black Car, driving fast
into the night, headlights shining fierce
to illuminate the terrible journey.
The Big Black Car,
back seats filled with fear;
stealer of children, bringer of tears,
and destroyer of families.
Their only crime their parentage
and their colour, declared guilty
by a patronising system
that knew what was best,
the children were sentenced
to lives of dislocation and unknowing;
their mothers to torn hearts and tears.

Two years ago a word was spoken
that acknowledged the aching
and the arrogance,
and which caused the Big Black Car
to recede, at least a little,
in the dreams of aging children.

Ken Rookes