Centrepiece

What this country needs is a tonic
a clean white box from the future     to brighten a blackened city
with foyers where people can really meet people
and stairs that sweep in and out of filtered sun

                           what this country needs is a concrete palace
                           to grow up in     with beehives on the roof
                           and miles of wood-panelled corridors
                           a green room full of generational talents

competition winners     rock and roll grandees
orchestras manifesting multitudes nightly
what this country needs is a ballroom
where ordinary working people can transform

                           through the power of permission
                           into a choir     a dance troupe     gently rolling pebbles
                           and carpets     this country needs carpets
                           patterned with a visual representation of sound

and mugs for sale in all the shops
patterned with a visual representation of the carpets
and a café that’s had more facelifts
than the river itself

                           what this country needs is Indonesian gongs
                           and toddlers running around with mallets
                           after-school k-pop dancers and papier mâché busts
                           queues of graduating women waiting for the loo

proud mothers in hijabs     what this country needs
is the birth of British skateboarding
one view over the sparkling Thames and another
over Cardboard City     decades of debate

                           over public space     space for profit     space to breathe in
                           what this country needs is a library
                           where the alphabet folds into itself in rolling stacks
                           and poets hide in corners     waiting to be discovered

while a yellow lift sings its octaves up and down
after everything we’ve been through
what this country needs is a gallery
where inspiration might tip

                           straight into your pelvis     or spout from your neck
                           at any moment     and a rooftop garden
                           where friendships can blossom over a plastic-free pint
                           and a truth might just be uttered aloud

like I never knew music could do that
like I will carry those words with me forever
like I saw myself on stage for the first time
what this country needs

                           is a fountain to run through like you’re five again
                           with life and all its huge questions
                           way out in front of you     yes
                           that’s what this country needs

can you build it?