by RODNEY WILLIAMS
hill-based training ride highway one
water bottle full tyre pressure right
solo run today tête de la course
lanterne rouge too red tail light
ute out front four-wheel drive behind
white cumulus horizon blue overhead
wedgetail’s wings scoping green slopes
ibis in formation broad arrowhead
shire dead & injured highway listing
red wombat carcass spread of gizzard
scaly skin sheath flat on bitumen
older roadkill blue-tongue lizard
double-decker semi-trailer angus steers
emergency swerve handlebar wrench
from slipstream suck sideways shift
abattoir bound downwind stench
truck’s ratchet strap rubbish bags tossed
plastic bottles dumped fast-food trash
bits of rope dropped lost worker’s glove
orange witch’s hats site of recent crash
cold-front clouds sheer black cliffs
yet another rise gear change strain
traffic building up increased headwind
downhill roll to home first spits of rain
– Princes Highway, Trafalgar to Moe, VIC