Gunghalin Drive Extension
Road widening... "It''s like trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt."
(Retrieved 21 July 2010 from www.lexpress.mu, 4 January 2011)
They come to work then home again
on bitumen that's newly poured,
past tangled steel that shadows frame,
past stones an artist has explored,
progressing in their ordered line
like caterpillars in a chain
parting a little for a while
coming together once again
I see them crawling down the road
resigned in camaraderie
the bridges groaning at the load
the drivers groaning inwardly.
Frustration doesn't give a hoot
It won't remove the 40 sign
and side streets hold no better routes
that lateral thinkers could divine.
Success demands that they survive
to wade in frantic hours ahead
fueled with caffeine to survive.
Then, when the sunlight has been shed
they'll thread into the lane for home
highlighting places yet unsealed;
past the shadowy pile of stones
past the silhouette of steel
round go-slow signs and over welts
in sluggish unremitting queues.
The parkway loosening up its belt
after consuming too much food.
© H. Hall
21 July 2011
