Jake Newland's "Resurgency" starts with a small admission: the speaker used to believe the city went dead at night. Then, almost casually, they correct themselves. Tonight the streets are full, and the speaker is part of the crowd. The line "Myself included" is quiet but important, because it shows the speaker has stepped out of the role of observer and into the middle of things.
The mood is warm, energetic and a little giddy. Short, clipped lines pile up like the people they describe: "Life upon life / Body against body." The city stops being a place and becomes "a single organism," something breathing and moving as one. The poem ends on three single words, "Awake / Alive / Resurgent," which land like a series of heartbeats. The speaker feels wonder, belonging and surprise at having been wrong. The "cool summer night" adds a sense of relief and freedom, as though the city itself has been let out to play.