This month saw the publication of a poem that I first wrote about 7 or 8 years ago. It is called Manchester and has been published on the Manchester Libraries website: Manchester Lit List and it can be found here.
The poem was first written as an entry to a BBC radio competition. The winning poem was to be transcribed on the side of a new building that was being erected in Piccadily Gardens. The poem that won was quite bland but the competition involved writing a 50 syllable poem based around the subject of Manchester.
This version is a result of the well used adage to review and edit your own work repeatedly. This is its sixth or seventh revised draft and one that I am quite happy with, particularly as it provoked a response: one person questioning the blue swagger. Personally I was pleased with balance I got in the two stanzas reflecting the two epochs of the city's life. I took my inspiration from a book called Manchester, England by Dave Haslam. A book that I can well recommend.
Manchester
Back then, working class wise,
Cloth capped and carrying,
Transatlantic textile treasure,
King of the world was I.
But now, august architecture tram laced,
Dance crazed capital of culture,
Theatre thronged, gallery graced,
Northern prince with red and blue swagger.
