Why I hate Birmingham

Dear Birmingham,

Screw you! Your twisted, brutalist architecture, a feeble attempt by thousands to rebuild after the war, is soulless and inauthentic. These colourless, hopeless, and cold buildings make me feel stagnant and miserable. The great skylines imagined but never truly created with care.

The decay of fly tipping resembles a scene from a dystopian movie, where abandoned heaps of rubbish and discarded items litter the landscape, creating a haunting mosaic of neglect and disregard. Broken furniture, rusting appliances, and piles of rotting waste blend into the overgrown weeds and cracked pavements, enveloping the area in a strong odour. A sense of abandonment spreads through the surroundings, chillingly reminding us of human impact on the environment.

HS2, an overpriced vanity project that will unnecessarily connect two already well-connected cities, while the rest of the predominantly Victorian railway infrastructure in the country deteriorates and rots, like the rest of England.

In the evenings, drifters race around roads and parking lots, causing disturbances. With nothing else to occupy their time, their high-revving engines shatter the peace and quiet of neighbourhoods, while the screeching of tires and the smell of burnt rubber fill the air of Star City. A chaotic scene that transforms once peaceful areas into potential hazards.

The M6 motorway, a chaotic and noisy urban hell, where cars appear to be held together by nothing more than hope. As they speed past, they emit a symphony of distressing noises, clattering and clanging as the mismatched parts vibrate in protest, suggesting a history of mishaps and hasty repairs. Each car tells its own story of survival. Drivers persist with these motoring relics, coaxing them through another journey because they were once seen as a ‘bostin’ deal. Yet, as they continue to scrape through just another ten thousand miles, their groans and protests echo the sentiment that perhaps it’s time for a well-deserved retirement.

The lingering anger and unresolved issues from my family’s history cast a shadow over me as I navigate through your cold and unforgiving streets, drawing more resentment to your bitter calls.

‘Why I hate Birmingham’ was part of my Component two project on ‘urbanisation’. The poem was written in my sketchbook and reflected my thoughts on Birmingham. The perspective is intentionally irrational and shaped around what I believed was a strong project concept. Much of my family is from Birmingham, and I love them dearly; however, the aim of this project was to create an irrational persona through which to explore the city and its perceived coldness.