Change and progress and the red pithos

In a little village in Crete an old red pithos stands sentinel-like 

at the foot of blue wooden shutters

Vainly trying to grow a rose bush.

Five years later,

in the little village in Crete the old red pithos still stands sentinel-like 

at the foot of blue wooden shutters

Still vainly trying to grow the rose bush!

Change and progress are not always everything!