DURING SYDNEY OLYMPICS
wandering through David Jones,
the Harrods of Australia:
Giant lilies, forsythias,
red nasturtiums in beige pots,
punctuated with green palms,
float celestially
from a 30-foot ceiling.
A barrage of blazing tourist flashbulbs
jolt me into reality.
I lift an engraved 3-D lid of
a garish green music box with
Crocodile Dundee wrestling a croc while
a chorus rings out "Waltzing Matilda."
Inside the box, an Aborigine man lights a fire
with sticks and dung
near the sacred Uluru. I smile
and slip away, Aussie coins
still jangling in my pockets.
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