The last patch

The small course of bricks now

encloses a few pots

in a corner

and the remnants of some plants

the rest of the

erstwhile last patch

of "green belt" in the lane

has given way

to the tiled beauty

of a drive-in porch

so the number of cars

won hands down

defeating the

natural , untamed ugliness

of a few pots of seasonal flowers.

I'm suddenly reminded

of some toddlers in a school

uniformed,disciplined,

in the process of being civilised

walled to be tamed

another battle lost.