First of all, I had to look up Villanelle. Thank you for enlarging my concept of poetry. Secondly, this particular subject matter speaks to me. One, because I was that homeless person for a time in my life, and two, because, where I live, the gentrification has become so prevalent so rapidly, that whole families are being displaced, and there is no plan in place to rectify it. Affordable housing is non-existent. And yet, people get pissed to see panhandlers perched at every stoplight, on every street corner. They feel it makes the city unsafe and "dirty". Tents and makeshift dwellings are constantly torn down. I myself have witnessed policemen (given orders by the city) confiscating blankets and sleeping bags away from people outside of a soup kitchen to deter them from sleeping on the sidewalk.
I started volunteering with a home-building non-profit that helps put low-income families into affordable housing. It's a small contribution of my time that hopefully makes a difference, at least to some. I will also add that the tremendous lack of mental health resources for so many people in need is deplorable. Can every homeless person just get up and walk into a McDonald's and get a job? No. Yet, it's assumed they can. Mental illness is a huge barrier, and if people are falling through the cracks of the health care system, they are ultimately forgotten. People would rather see them disappear quietly than have to deal.
Anyway, your poem is brilliant and really got me thinking this morning. Thank you for that, Parker.