Semi-detached vans

There are people living on this street,

Who are not living in this street.

Which at first glance

Seems like a neat street,

Lined with houses that are discreet,

Semi-detached almost identical

Painted white or cream,

Gable ends ornamented

With pseudo-Tudor beams.

And plenty of shiny new cars

And four by fours

Parked outside or on driveways.

And then there are the second-hand vans,

With old, faded logos on the side

Left over from when these vans

Were used to deliver

Bread or jam or glue or shoes.

Vans parked in different places

On different days.

Homes outside houses

But one small step up

From a cardboard box shack

In a shop doorway;

Or a tent under the motorway.

But anyway,

A cold and lonely way to get by

Semi-detached from the semi-detached

Semi-detached from society

By an inhuman human economy.