Some people really want the world
to be a beautiful place,
they make consistent efforts
pruning and mowing and even
making a flowerbed
by the side of the road
with bricks, soil and cuttings
from their own garden.

Where before it was just dusty pink gravel,
there is clematis,
and some plants whose names I don’t know.

She goes inside to admire her work
from the window.
Catches her son's eye in a photo
on her way to the kitchen,
washes the soil from her hands,
and goes outside to continue her memory.
The tree was a lot smaller then.

She hears the sound of play and looks
over the garden wall,
and thinks Paki bastards
at the 4 and 5 year old kids playing house.