It was always wood, wood
along the way, and exits went from
grove to sacred grove till deeper wood
lay beyond the Roman shield and sword;
that, though, belongs to another
picture book. The lyre-bird mimics the
chainsaw and Birds of Paradise
spit chips. Along the Hume Hwy. east
of Eden, a concrete Mountain Ash
dubbed Yggdrasil boasts a
wide-screen computer enhanced vista:
an arrow-straight monorail running
from Uluru clean through the Olgas.