The New road

The New Road (Modern Algarve)


The lane up to the village- from the main road-
begins where the old olive tree stands, and
now it has got street lights and been asphalted
and tries to look like a suburban road.

The lane, in the old days, was strewn with
white sea sand, was easy to walk on and only
needed a few stars to shine; asphalt eats light
and the lane only shines when it rains.

Lower Road, it’s called to it ends in a natural
square that has no name, after that it’s called
Upper Road till it makes a turn and ends back
on the main road again.

The “upper roaders” tend to be a bit snotty,
it’s the “upper” thing you see, and the bread
van stops there -‘cause it comes in the wrong
way- ; and one of them has got a Mercedes.

We at the lower end, laughs at their snobbery,
the square belongs to us, the fish van stops
there too, as do tourists who take pictures of us
as we sit along stone walls looking rustic.