Back in April we launched the competition to find a poem that would best sum up Manchester. The poem will be used in the development of Piccadilly Place in Manchester. We had nearly 4,000 entries from people of all ages and all over the world. The Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, chose a short list of twelve poems that were then voted upon by the public via this website and telephone.
 | | Mike Duff |
The winner, announced on BBC GMR on National Poetry Day, is Mike Duff from Colyhurst with his poem called - in the rain. Mike says, "I took the title from the 'Book of Proverbs' where it says that, 'It rains on the just and the unjust man alike'. "I took this to mean that God had no favourites and Manchester is a city where it rains a lot and we have always accepted the persecuted people of other races and readily accepted other genders and sexuality's. "They have all come to Manchester and we have all grown and prospered together, in the rain." Here's Mike winning poem, now re-titled A Poem for Manchester. i don't care if you're black, chinese white or tan
don't care if you're old, gay, a woman or man
you can sit down next to me
if you're mancunian You can find out more about the winner by clicking on the link below. | 
