Going home

[tectak]

Tom--

Of course, most roads in the USA are made with "tar" (tarmac) or concrete.  The tar starts off black and then crumbles into grey, exactly as you describe in your poem.  

Possibly interesting side note:  even though many airports in the USA use concrete for runways, you'll still hear those runways referred to as "the tarmac".  

Why?  Who the hell knows, it's America, baby, where "dictionary" is defined as a big book that looks impressive sitting on a shelf.  Sometimes, in a library (a place where homeless people sleep) a dictionary will even sit on its own special table.  

According to the American Webster Dictionary that sits on that special table you will find the definition below. Please note, nowhere in the definition is a factual description of "tarmac" given.

tarmac    /ˈtɑɚˌmæk/   noun
   
Learner's definition of TARMAC
the tarmac:   the area covered by pavement at an airport                  

◾airplanes parked on the tarmac


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You should worry...we call an airport air-side an apron