Inside My Mother

by Ali Cobby Eckermann

In her memoir Too Afraid to Cry, published in 2013, Indigenous poet Ali Cobby Eckermann related how she had been tricked away from her mother as a baby, repeating the trauma her mother had suffered when she was taken from her grandmother many years before. Eckermann in turn had to give her own child up for adoption. In her new poetry collection, Inside my Mother, she explores the distance between the generations created by such experiences, felt as an interminable void in its darkest aspects, marked by sadness, withdrawal, yearning and mistrust, but in other ways a magical place ‘beyond the imagination’, lit by dreams and visions of startling intensity, populated by symbolic presences and scenes of ritual and commemoration, chief amongst them the separation and reunion of mother and child. Though the emotions are strong, they are expressed simply and with a sense of significance in nature which reminds one of the poetry of Oodgero Noonuccal, whose successor Eckermann is.

About the Author

Ali Cobby Eckerman’s first collections of poetry little bit long time and Kami (2010) both quickly sold out their first print runs. Her verse novel His Father’s Eyes was published by OUP in 2011. Her second verse novel Ruby Moonlight won the inaugural kuril dhagun National Manuscript Editing Award and the 2013 NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry and Book of the Year Award.

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous, Australia, Nonfiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2015

About the author

Ali Cobby Eckermann is a Yankunytjatjara / Kokatha kunga (woman) born on Kaurna land in 1963. As a baby Ali was adopted into the Eckermann family. After failed attempts she was assisted by Link Up to find her mother Audrey, and four years later her son Jonnie. Her journey was supported by many members of the Stolen Generations. She regularly visits her traditional family in rural and remote South Australia; to learn and to heal. After nearly thirty years in the Northern Territory, Ali chooses to live in the ‘intervention-free’ village of Koolunga, South Australia, where she is renovating the old general store and establishing an Aboriginal Writers Retreat.

Ali Cobby Eckermann enjoyed great success with her first collection of poetry, little bit long time. Her poetry reflects her journey to reconnect with her Yankunytjatjara / Kokatha family. Other collections include Kami and Love Dreaming and Other Poems, published by Vagabond Press.

Her first verse novel, His Father’s Eyes, was published in 2011 by Oxford University Press. Her second verse novel, Ruby Moonlight, published by Magabala Books, won the 2011 inaugural kuril dhagun Manuscript Editing Award and the 2012 Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature.

She has been featured on Poetica, ABC Message Stick, and on the Poetry International Website. In 2010 she performed at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali, and in 2012 at the Reaching The World Summit in Bangkok, Thailand. Too Afraid to Cry is her much anticipated memoir.

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with her first collection, Ali Cobby Eckermann continues to demonstrate her gift for powerful writing that needs no padding or pretense to qualify it. Some of the poems in this collection really stand out, and stand alone, while others seem a little too sparse or incomplete on their own. However, the effect of reading the whole colletion together is very moving.

The organisation of the poems seems designed to take the reader carefully through a range of feelings appropriate to the subject matter. For example, towards the end of the collection a number of quite upsetting poems are presented that deal with loss and separation. These are follwed up with a couple of quite funny poems. The effect of this is not jarring, but rather offers a relief from the pain, and offers some sense of healing. It's easy (as a White guy) to think about the treatment of Aboriginal Austrlians as this all encompassing, identity shaping, series of assaults from which they could never recover, and to therefore think quite simplistically that Aboriginal Australians are just victims and there is little else we can do about it now. This collection certainly forces you to look at the effects of things like the NT Intervention, the Stolen Generations and the other detrimental impacts of White colonisation, and doesn't let you look away, but it also shows you that Aboriginal Australians retain power, dignity, and a wicked sense of humour at times as well. I am thankful to Cobby Eckermann for continuing to write so well about these issues.

The collection starts quite slowly (in my opinion), but once you reach the poem bearing the collection's title the whole collection lifts. This could be because the poems from that point on genuinely improve, or it could be, as I really suspect, that it is the cumulative effect of reading Ali Cobby Eckermann's style - once you are more in tune with her as a reader, every poem adds it's small piece to the jigsaw she is constructing.

[Deb Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread. Excellent. So many poignant passages and moments and feelings expressed. (And a laugh, Please Brother!) A rich tapestry of her reactions to, and expressions of, life.

p12. ‘..the seawater spills a treasure of shells
at her feet the murmur of legends crave her’

p3. ‘..our bird song
is so ancient
we gifted it
to the church’

[Karly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to climb inside you
transfuse your heart blood to mine
of course that cannot happen

we can link in other ways
when your hands search
for mine at night

inside your arms there is peace
a timelessness I have not known
were we lovers in the Dreamtime?

I Tell You True, Love 22/06/10, Tjulpu and Trance were by far my favourites in this collection. These poems brushed their gum-scented, blood-stained, red-dust fingers along the edges of my heart, pressing it in all the right (and wrong) places. Other poems were hard-hitting and raw, but didn't necessarily grab me like these did.

All-in-all, 3.5/5.

[Rosie Bartle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inside my Mother is a beautiful book! A collection of poems by author Ali Cobby Eckermann about the eerily similar trauma experienced generationally by her, her mother and grandmother. Some poems were so light, dreamy and hopeful, whilst others were dark with themes of grief and sexual assault. Throughout the poems, her connection to country and traditional culture is depicted as her means of survival. One poem made me gasp and another made me laugh! A real mix of emotions and an insight into the way Indigenous women were treated throughout the generations. One poem that has stuck with me, ends with “So if you see someone like me, Who’s drunk and loud and cursing, Don’t judge too hard ‘cos you don’t know, What sorrows we are nursing”.

[Rebecca Ricciardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous poetry collection of longing, separation, despair but ultimately return; to mothers, grandmothers, daughters and sovereign land. The release of such strong language and themes feels cathartic and speaks so loud for so many, an unending infliction upon First Nations women that mutates with the passing time, showing no reprieve. These stories expressed in poetry are moving and thought provoking to say the least, and I hope to engage with more First Nations poets in future.

[Georgia Brunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know where my review went, I just edited the rating to put it up a star after analysing it in class. Anyway, very good book but I just can't with poetry so that's why it's at 3 stars.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Overhead the sky
continues to shine
mother and daughter
standing together' From ' Ooldea Soakage'

Ali Cobby Eckermann, is an indigenous Australian poet of the Yankunytjatjara / Kokatha people. The raw emotion of her words seem to settle right into my bones and expose the beauty, peace and grief of this land. Her prose evokes truths that I feel but also experience like a revelation.

'all peripheral vision is blocked by earth
the sky allows a sight that does not end
only my eyes reveal the myopia secret
my desire to live in the sky' From 'Clay'

The Longing for those who have passed is exquisitely rendered simply and poignantly

'my mother is playing hide and seek
between my memory and my dreams'

and pause on this for a moment

'no longer foetal I must arise
no longer prone she has arisen' Both from 'Dip' (Yes, I wanted to write out all the words here)

The significance of country is shared. I had to still my mind and listen with respect.

'we float our churches down the river
and you will not know
you do not see our religion' From 'Lake Eyre'

'chapsticks ring syllables of song
the song lives in the eagle flying overhead
watch for the glint of light from its wing
as it turns in tune with the sun' From 'Chapsticks'

The generational grief that was caused by colonisation is always lingering in the heart and in the soil itself.

'Why are our modern day warriors
hanging from trees?' From 'Warriors at Salt Creek'

'I can't stop drinking I tell you true
Since my mother passed away
They found her battered down the creek
I miss her more each day' From 'I Tell You True'

'boomerang bones will return to memory
excavation holes are dug in our minds
the constant loss of breath is the legacy
there is blood on the truth' From 'Unearth'

Yet, the only way to heal is found in the land itself

'fill my ears with
bird song

I will survive' From 'Tjulpu'

'grass plains sway to sweep
the void there is no chasm
between us' From 'Leaves'

Anyway this poetry swept me away to the flight of an eagle and let me see from it's viewpoint, the heritage of this land we call Australia. Read it.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful poetry collection

[duKe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having taught six of the poems from this collection in Module A: Language, Identity and Culture of the English curriculum, I thought it was best that I tackle it in its entirety.
Studying Eckermann’s context and the significant influence of dispossession, the stolen generations and prejudice on cultural identity allowed for a deeper reading. It made me further understand the gravity of the governmental policies of the 1900s and how intergenerational trauma continues to impact individuals and communities.
Eckermann, despite the hardships she has endured, has compiled a beautiful collection of poems that truly reveals the power of the indigenous spirit, which is embedded in a connection to the land.
Eckermann is a truly brilliant poet.

[Sonia Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the poetry collection, Inside My Mother, Ali Cobby Eckermann creates an intersectional critical framework for exploring the dynamics of ancestry, migration, nationhood, ethnicity, gender, and geographical space(s) among Australian Aboriginal people. The collection is structured into three sections. Many of the poems intersect, creating a dialogue on issues of colonialism, migration, motherhood, indigeneity, sexism, racism, displacement and white assimilation. Aboriginal womanhood operates as a central theme in Eckermann’s poems.

[Jessie Shelton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the good fortune to hear Eckermann speak several years ago and her stories and mere presence made an impact on me. The imagery in this collection is similarly powerful, though I must lament the fact that a lot of the subtleties and many references are lost on me because of my ignorance of her culture. That being said, I shall continue to be inspired by her work a the images swirl around my head and claw at my heart. I look forward to getting my hands on more of her work down the road. Powerful stuff.

[Shin · Rating 4 out of 5]

You’d think that after doing two years of an English Literature/Creative Writing degree I’d have some idea of how poetry works but I honestly still have no clue. I’m a prose person, what can I say??? But some of these were really beautifully written! I only meant to read a couple this afternoon then move on to other uni work, but I ended up reading the whole collection 😂

[Mark Friend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Note : Like the basket on the cover, i saw Inside My Mother as an instrument, positioning the reader to be open to story and culture.

The poems that particularly grabbed my attention were Kulila, Abstract, Clay, Warriors at Salt Creek, Sadness, Eyes, key and Strings

[Kerrin ! ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Ali Cobby Eckermann delivers some excellent lines in this, a lot of it felt very flat and disjointed to me.

I really enjoyed ‘Ruby Moonlight’, so I was a bit disappointed with this collection.

[Sean Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eckerman Enterprise #2
Another great volume of poetry from Eckerman, this my second work from her, and it was definitely worth the return journey.
She is at once challenging and inspiring with her work.
Well recommended.

[Jaq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking and considered. Poems that will make you stop, think and feel.

[Rohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

You should read poetry. Even if just in a couple of days.
It helps you enjoy the world. But also inhabit someone else's world too.

[Carmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful words to touch and break your heart.

[Jacob Binder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection rich with emotion, song, story, and decolonial love.

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and sad and poignant. A collection of poems that wash over you and you just want to read over and over.

[Krish J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed reading Cobby Eckerman's perspective of all the different Indigenous experiences. It was so refreshing to be able to see poems that had such a depth of emotion and meaning.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems captures feelings of severance, longing and grief so beautifully.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn’t weeping by the end as I normally do with a poetry collection but still a super moving read

[Maxine McEwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. Favourites include Dip, The Gunbarrel Highway, Sadness, A Cross, I Tell You True, and Lyre Birds.

[Naomi Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a powerful, moving collection of poetry.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

These poems will require thoughtful analysis.

[Gill M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good suite but the HSC ruined it for me

[viky · Rating 5 out of 5]

we have this for our english A literary body of work so we analyzed and read these in class, they are a beautiful compilation of poems, very enjoyable, very emotional, good for in depth analysis

[Veronica E Lees · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for school and discovered I’m not the biggest fan of poetry