a map of you is a poetic and visual guide to Manchester as seen through the eyes of homeless and vulnerably housed people. Below is our first poem:
I was born here in
memories
memories
are the reason I remain
family
push you or
pull you in
otherwise I'd be out of here like a
bullet from a gun
the historical a changing face
a face, not just a construction
in Manchester you're back
in the 1800s
the British Rail toilets
Victoria
a church a hidden gem
it's timeless the statues come at you
off Albert Square, back to a godly age
renaissance motivating the statues
it's not just family it's roots
call
could be your dog or
the John Rylands Library
grotesques on the outside
the Xmas market looking up
the cathedral brick-by-brick brought
during its heyday
the Salford Quays the shipyards
the canals of
the waterways of
Manchester
Manchester I go to build all time
change change change
more new new new new
the bomb that devastated
I go to build in each corner
brilliant shops of the best sort
this is where the money is Piccadilly Gardens
Manchester Royal
the zephyr cars the flowergarden a place to sit
a walkway from Victorian times
remember back in the day
everyone would just chip in
food after food on the tables
the Victorians
the Victory Party
lost in
Heaton Park
the boating lake when I was a kid
the little museum
Belle Vue the circus
the dinosaur speedway
tunnels going under
the speedway you could feel the gravel hitting you
from two miles away
I guarantee
Sale Waterpark dead quiet
an underground market that sells everything in memory
the Three Peaks I love it but I'm
scared of heights
the place I sit back and enjoy is the sky bar
you can see a distance
I'm waiting for the April showers to come
waiting
for the lightning
watch the lightning over the Peak District
flashing down the hillside
striking down the hillside.
Group poem
Booth Centre
22nd Feb 2011
