Reading is FUNdamental.

So I'm currently reading this book entitled "Love's Witness: Five Centuries of Love Poetry by Women", compiled by Jill Hollis. I found it in the closet. I assume these are my roommates books (sorry for rummaging through things whitt!). Anyway, I've gotten about 200 pages into it & there have been some good pieces along with horrible ones. There is one author who catches my eye though. Her name is 'Marnia'. I'm assuming this is a nickname. I've read three pieces of hers in here so far. One I put on my MySpace, and the other two I will put here. I throughly enjoy them & I hope you will too.

"Accoutrement"

But lovers are like umbrellas aren't they?
They're like gloves
They cover you up, they keep you warm
They look so good, they fit so nice
they shield you.
Then you leave them on a train
You think 'How did I manage that'
And 'I didn't like them anyway'.
Or 'I've lost them.'


"I Want to Love You Very Much"

I want to love you very much

You ask for my love
I am afraid to give what I have
A gentle animal leans on my arm
I hurt you
You look at me with wounded eyes
I slap you
You beg for my love
I leave you.


What I found even more interesting was the brief notes on all the poets in the back of the book. Here's what it says about her;

English poet, short story writer, singer, performer. Born and lived in London. When she was three years old, her father killed her mother. He was in prison for six years during which his daughter grew up in institutions; on his release 'Marnia' was returned to his care. Almost immediately she began to suffer systematic sexual abuse at the hands of her father and three brothers. Another brother, the one member of the family with whom she had a positive relationship, was murdered in a knife attack when she was seventeen, which provoked her first attempt to kill herself. The remaining five years of her life were to be punctuated by further suicide attempts at points when desperation overwhelmed her. She finally ended her life after having an abortion, to which she had felt driven when she discovered that the baby was male. 'Marnia' began writing in her early teens, at first in diaries, and subsequently produced a considerable body of work consisting of short stories and poetry. The poems in this collection are published for the first time.