We Are One

• Abin Jaison, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2021

The Lunar New Year is noisy with the Chinese Dragon
who is stirfrying the vegetable in a rickety wooden wagon
Spiced tofu is added with clinging clustered rice, sticky like glue
We eat in front of the gleaming glittering golden Buddha statue
Christmas is packed with Aussies who came to London to have a barbecue
Oh did they forget about the bitter coldness and the massive queue
They dreamed about summer and a sky that was as clear as glass
Where they would hammer their wickets and play on their luscious green grass
In the streets of Cochin, people and animals mingling
Women walk around with their bright colourful bangles jingling
People gather to drink tea, dipping their twice-baked rusk
While chatting away in diverse languages until dusk
There were those who journeyed to Australia on the seven stormy seas
They came here trading spices, silks and scones to appease
The leaders of this land who told great Dreamtime stories
Convicts arrived and settled in states and territories
Chinese invented tea which is drunk everywhere on the map
Australians popularised barbecue which is eaten outside on their laps
Indians created mild red spices that make everyone food's better
And the Europeans who were great explorers brought everyone together