The concrete is modernity, the hole an act of God (let’s say)—
Or careless limb-work by tree-cutting men. The green thing's life itself,Tenacity, and upward thrust of still awake humanity.
The picture, in entirety, remains ambiguous. One take
On it might go like this: “Poor plant. How dumb you are, how brief your fate.
In this well-off community, the city will soon mark a spot
With orange spray across that slab, and crews will break the damaged stretch,
Never even see your chlorophillic signature, and cover
Up your greenish heritage with fresh cement and harder aggregate.”
Another walker may well take the longer view, behold the little
Plant, feel its great faith, intuit what it knows, hear its quite different
drum, and in that beat discern the slogan WE SHALL OVERCOME.
We should have all learned by now that Mother Nature will always have the last word, no matter hard aggregate or fresh concrete...
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the little plants in the cracks of concrete being Mother Nature's way of saying that she will never surrender; we conquer by an immense amount of deliberate energy and constant busy-ness, but she, by simply doing what she always does.
ReplyDeleteA lovely and reassuring thought. But, lets pick on something other than cement and concrete next time, Ok?
ReplyDelete