{"id":997,"date":"2017-07-10T09:30:28","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T08:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/?p=997"},"modified":"2017-07-03T09:40:12","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T08:40:12","slug":"the-city-of-birmingham-missed-and-missing-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/the-city-of-birmingham-missed-and-missing-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"The City of Birmingham – Missed and Missing Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following piece was originally posted by Urban Living Birmingham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Below are two poems in response to a request for the best and worst of Birmingham. The poems formed part of an impromptu exhibition held at one of Urban Living Birmingham\u2019s Touchstone Meetings.<\/p>\n

From the author, Jonathan Ward:<\/p>\n

These poems were off the cuff reflections on parts of the city I see and experience most often as a commuter. They provide very different perspectives on the transitions of infrastructure and heritage in the city.<\/p>\n

New Street station, whilst much better than it was, still feels alien to me. I see little connection to Birmingham or to me (other than a place I can take interesting photos of). It feels like a further encroachment of placeless consumerism upon my space.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the canal is the route from the University to the centre. I experience less often on foot, more often via rail. \u00a0A path less travelled perhaps, but regardless of how little I take that route on foot, when I do, I open up to the city and myself. I\u2019m forced to slow down and take things in, observe, and be present. Resist the accelerationist pull of urban life.<\/p>\n

If you like they are both about missed or missing opportunities. The canal representing one where we can, but aren\u2019t yet, doing things differently in how we experience cities. It\u2019s a nod to the past but looking to the future, a repurposing, whereas new street seems like the future of the past perpetuating the past into the future.<\/p>\n

THE POEMS:<\/p>\n

New Street<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amidst the hubbub,
\ncaked in urban noise,
\nHarried and hurried,
\nPeople flock,
\nTo that which shines,
\nThis other-worldly citadel<\/p>\n

Panoramic eyes gleam,
\nbeam, stream messages to make us lack,
\nmake us want,
\nBring us forth,
\nshop , eat,
\nto change track?<\/p>\n

Modernity, lost from space,
\nfallen into,
\na no longer place,
\nis it yesterday\u2019s future?
\nOr tomorrow\u2019s past?
\nTransporting consumers,
\nanywhere to anywhere,
\nAn opportunity miscast?<\/p>\n

Canal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Travel transports,
\nconverges,
\nOver time,
\nNew tracks,
\nSame line.<\/p>\n

Coursing through,
\nForgotten city,
\npost-industrial landscapes
\nabandoned soundscapes,
\ndressed in the decay of time,
\nembraced by nature<\/p>\n

Moving, flowing,
\nrunning, rowing
\nBreathing, slowing
\nThe yawn and stretch
\nOf time and space
\nCity forgotten.
\nLife remembered.
\nPresent in place.<\/p>\n

To sign up to our blog mailing list, please click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following piece was originally posted by Urban Living Birmingham. Below are two poems in response to a request for the best and worst of Birmingham. The poems formed part of an impromptu exhibition held at one of Urban Living Birmingham\u2019s Touchstone Meetings. From the author, Jonathan Ward: These poems were off the cuff reflections … Continue reading “The City of Birmingham – Missed and Missing Opportunities”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cities","tag-birmingham"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=997"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1033,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions\/1033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/cityredi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}