That overcrowded mass of holly was once a cottage
The leaves overtook and the boards now rotted
A family of four had trod those floors
Millenia ago, that was before
When the world overheated and everyone died
Didn’t take long for the atmosphere to reacclimatise
The end of the world as we know it didn’t apply
To the trees, the leaves, the grass and vines
The roots of all been given their call
No meddling controller to interrupt the sprawl
Below the surface creeping into sewage, subways, underground shopping malls
Wisteria snakes around every lamppost, post box, phone box
Poxy concrete rubble in months
Weed killer absent dandelions carpet pavements
Nettles as big as doc leaves free in every basement
No longer a pariah, an ailment or disease
An upstanding member of the foliage community
So much green dark, pale and lime
And infinite flora, luscious, sublime
Especially since the bees came back
You’d smell the honey infusing the air
That is, if you were there
By now the buildings and infrastructure are hidden
A digested offering back to the earth
Further down as the planet overgrows
And life after life after life flows and flows
Until archaeologists one day discover
Before their civilisation there was another
For centuries debating our fate
Was it disease?
An asteroid?
Global earthquake?
And all the while tap into tombs
For a limited supply of fossil fuels
Nytheone Matt 