The author describes the pain felt across Australia amid the referendum to enshrine a voice for First Nations people in the constitution. He refers to the weight of history, experience of discrimination, funerals, tragic events, violence and suicide as the pain for Aboriginal and Torrest Strait Islanders, and brokenness of lives, addictions and imprisonment for other Australians. He discusses the collective pain, struggle to agree on the truth of the past, shared trauma and attempts to heal.