Road Ribbon

Road Ribbon

There are miles and miles of road ribbon, and

Growth is pressed down by the concrete.

Roots, shoots, turn and return into the

Earth, blocked by the barrier.

Above,

The boughs and twigs brush wood together,

The leaves nestle.

Beneath,

The feet tread tarmac.

Nature is overlaid and bitumen-bound.

And there where two motorways cross

Is road ribbon tied in a cloverleaf bow.

Cloverleaf! Where no clover can grow!

1963