Exeter Bus Station, 1998

Two camouflage army hats hide
the scabby heads of a homeless couple.
They have lived in the city bus station
since the Luftwaffe wasted the history.

Now the sky is clear but their skin crawls
with fleas. Cueing passengers reign down
disgust as they yank old crusts
out of the bins - a bacteria time bomb.

They sit and watch the buses and coaches,
waves of invading tourists washing through.
'All the world's a rush,' he says sagely.
'Life's what you make it and many don't!'

'But we have,' she says patting his hand,
lined in dark veins and dirt trenches.
He kisses her scabby hand and they eat,
ignoring the dark looks fired their way.