Each Side of the Street

in every other garden a burnt out car or two

old refrigerators pushchairs and bike wheels

that some of these houses are still homes is hard to take in

mums call out to children playing soccer with an old tin-can

my grandfather lived on a council estate like this

flowers on the front carrots and onions round the back

late afternoon
a line of old cherry trees
each side of the street

Paul Conneally