The Road to Canberra, and Beyond.(Poem)

 
THE ROAD TO CANBERRA, AND BEYOND 
 
   Jumbucks graze on Lake George today, white puffs 
   From distant artillery, or thought balloons 
   Emptied of words, blown toward the sear horizon. 
   What water there may be sulks in the sloughs 
 
   Beneath the crust of sod and reckless grasses, 
   But mostly waits in clouds a decade away. 
   And here, a geologic shrug has tilted gravity, 
   Combing the trees off-plumb. This side of Yass, 
 
   The Big Merino straddles the petrol pumps, 
   Its giant crook'd horn a cornucopia 
   for proud convict descendants turned bourgeois. 
   Ned Kelly's ghost, visored and ...