Balancing Acts
On their way home
The gods are in good spirits
And take pity on the second city
A man from Alum Rock
Is at the mosque
As his business is reprieved
In Bartley Green
A paediatric nurse
Conceives
At a bus stop in Rubery
A pensioner spots her purse
Slipping from her bag
In the stands at Birmingham City
The crowd cheers a local boy
Who has never drunk or smoked
At an interview in Great Barr
A conscientious girl
Gives the best replies by far
In Lozells
A single parent
Buys a scratchcard
A runaway returns
To a house in Hamstead
That becomes a home again
In Harborne
The father of a kind young man
Agrees to meet his young man
At City Hospital
Sight is restored
To an open-minded child
As darkness falls
A faint glow lingers over Birmingham
And it’s not cold tonight
Page(s) 32-33
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