In my many visits to libraries and literary museums, I’ve seen poems written in tatty exercise books, on thick expensive paper, on the edge of a menu, on a piece of bark, and on various scraps of paper, but I have never before seen one written on an airline sickbag. The Fryer Library has such a poem – it’s a work by Australian poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, who was known as Kath Walker until 1988 (1920 – 1993).
In November 1974 she was flying from London to Australia. The BOAC plane had stopped at Dubai airport, when suddenly it was stormed by hijackers. Over the course of the next three days, one passenger was killed and another wounded. The plane flew to Tripoli and then Tunis where those on board were finally released. The hijackers had threatened to blow up the plane unless they were given immunity in Tunisia.
During this ordeal, Oodgeroo Noonuccal tried to understand the motivations of the captors and learned that one of them had given up a career as a paediatrician to fight for the Palestinian cause. Using a blunt pencil, she wrote the following poem:
Yussef, (hi-jacker) by Oodgeroo Noonuccal
“Yussef, my son,
What do you do here,
With your dreamy eyes
That tell of moonlight
And sun
And the warm touch of a girl’s embrace?
The love you feel for children
Pours from your heart
And it’s easy to see
Since you wear it on your sleeve.
The soft lines around your mouth
Tell of endearments
You dare not speak.
Your tired eyes
Have seen blood and tears,
Fear and contempt.
I see you in the moonlight
Relaxing,
Contented in a girl’s embrace.
But reality clouds my vision;
For there you stand,
Erect,
Alert,
Caressing,
A repeating rifle,
In your desert-strong,
Sunburned hands.”
Oodgeroo Noonuccal also wrote a poem called Commonplace during the time on board. Both poems were later retrieved and sent to the staff at BOAC. The sickbag, that you can see in the image above, is now in the Fryer Library in Queensland.
Did you enjoy this poem? Let me know by leaving a comment.
Aunty Oodgeroo Noonuccal
National Film & Sound Archive: Oodgeroo Noonuccal reads her poem, We Are Going in full to an appreciative audience at the Harold Park Hotel in Sydney in 1986.
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Frank Chalmers
Compassion. Empathy. Understanding.
Of course, given how we treat her people still.
Susannah Fullerton
Yes, absolutely!
Ginny Lowndes
Ooodgeroo’s words are Aboriginal philosophy and their way of life wrapped up in this poem.
Ginny Lowndes
Susannah Fullerton
Am not quite sure how trying to understand hijackers can be seen as Aboriginal philosophy?
Carly Heinrich
According to Warraimaay historian Victoria Grieve-Williams, Aboriginal philosophy asserts that ‘knowing that which has come before helps to understand ways forward’. It is not difficult to understand the solidarity extended from one colonised person to another.
Susannah Fullerton
Haven’t most peoples been colonised at one time or another in history?
Penny Morris
What an inspiring woman to be able to write poetry in such circumstances and to have a forgiving and understanding heart.
Susannah Fullerton
I find it impossible to imagine writing a poem in such circumstances. A very compassionate woman!
Barbara Wright
Dear Susannah,
I have read this poem out loud a few times. It is beautiful all the goodness that she initially she in her hi-jacker and then the final eight lines. Chilling.
When I think about the stress that the poet would have been under, it’s simply amazing that she could think, never mind write a beautiful poem
I have never heard of Kath Walker. I’m now going to change that by seeking out her other poems.
Thank you Susannah, I do enjoy your poetry section very much.
Cheers
Barbara
Susannah Fullerton
It seems the poetry section of my newsletter is one of the most popular sections, which delights me. I am so glad you have been enjoying my choice of poems. I thought this one was so fascinating – how could she even begin to write a poem in such circumstances???? And then to show such empathy!
ANTHONY WALLIS
‘As the authorities had closed off the airport at Beirut where the hijackers wanted to go to, the VC10 refuelled at Tripoli before landing at Tunis where it was surrounded by troops. The hijackers decided to stick to their demand for the release of 7 Palestinians held in Cairo and Holland. They set a deadline 24 hours away and promised to execute a passenger for every two hours past that time. On the second day, with no progress visible on their demands, they suddenly murdered German banker Werner Kehl, his body falling to the ground from the aft passenger door.’
G-ASGR Dubai 21 November 1974 is the best ‘locator’
Susannah Fullerton
Thanks for that extra information about the hijacking. What awful people and the poor German man.
Carly Heinrich
Noonuccal’s empathy here demonstrates her understanding of the plight of Palestinians as Indigenous peoples of the Levant forced into an apartheid state by the illegitimate settler colony that is Israel. The Palestinians on board this plane are not ‘awful people’ they were forced to resort to such tactics to draw the western world’s attention to the genocide they’ve been enduring since 1948. Fast forward to 2024 and the latest iteration of this genocide has been playing out for almost twelve months, forcing First Nations peoples here to witness in real time the violence of dispossession enacted upon their ancestors 250 years ago that continues today. White people are often not able to conjure this empathy for the dispossessed because our allegiances lie with the oppressors. Said’s Orientalism is a great resource for reframing the western notion of terror, that is rooted in the same racism and Islamophobia that has allowed Israel to commit war crimes for 70 years with impunity, enabled by the inaction of this settler colony and our allies. From the river to the sea, always was always will be – land back here and everywhere.
Susannah Fullerton
I cannot find any excuse for hijacking a planeload of terrified people, no matter what the cause you espouse. However, as my blog is a literary one, I prefer not to get into political discussions about the poems I have chosen.
Valerie
I would very much like to know how the subject of the poem, Yussef, felt when he read the poem, and if it changed his heart.
Susannah Fullerton
I wonder if he has read it? Wouldn’t it be fascinating to know his reaction.
Jo Hambrett
Dear Susannah,
Thank you so much for sharing this poem .
I have always been a huge fan of Kath Walker / Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s work.
The Fryer Library is definitely on my list for our next Qld.visit.!
Best wishes,
Jo Hambrett
Susannah Fullerton
You will love visiting the Fryer Library – so many treasures there.
I was just so itrigued by a poem written in such circumstances.