Ali Cobby Eckermann's poetry: inspiring those of us who feel like outsiders

The Indigenous poet, one of our greatest writers, has won the Windham-Campbell prize with writing that pierces the heart

there are always seeds that thread us
and carried on the wind set us apart
does the wind come from the origin
of the mother or the father
will my origins be blown away
or remain in distance if I leave
will the wind stand breathless
shall I remain to die broken from home

Related: Unemployed Indigenous poet Ali Cobby Eckermann wins $215,000 literary prize

[My birth mother] was the first person that I saw that mirrored my face and I remember the profoundness of finally finding someone that looked like me. Because that’s what family is – we were a reflection of each other ...

My adopted mum, who I have always known, and have all the childhood memories with ... she is as integral in my life, I think, in the way that I view the world. They can only be equal, my two mothers.”

Related: Indigenous kids are still being removed from their families, more than ever before | Larissa Behrendt