Maria Gornell
Maria Gornell is a poet from Liverpool, she has been published widely in the small press and has poems included in such anthologies as Clinical, Brutal - An Anthology of Writing With Guts (2011), Soul Feathers, an anthology for Macmillan Cancer published by Indigo Dreams (2011), Emergency Verse: Poetry in Defence of the Welfare State from The Recusant/ Caparison (2011), and Binders Full of Women (2012). In 2012 her pamphlet In the Absence of Wing was published by Erbacce Press. Maria is a trained sound therapist and uses some of her poetry in therapeutic settings. She is also working on a new poetry collection.
In Sickness and In Wealth
Ever felt like a flower not allowed to bloom?
as you call out my worth in numbers
faceless decisions
the Mcdonaldisation of the world
punch keys into my heart
bureaucracy through my soul life
gorge my eyes out with relentless
hammering to my bones
send me brown paper letters
signed with a death wish
wish me sickness in health
take away my power
silence my voice
scapegoat me into a box
dehumanise me
strip me of my identity
tell me I'm a drain
a worthless egg
crack my spine
and send me on journeys
that lead nowhere
give me a bus ticket
to purgatory
while you make a profit
on my disempowerment
wrap me in chains
insult my intelligence
because you can't be sick
and clever at the same time
send me more brown letters
to reinforce my absolute
uselessness on earth
which you are employed
at the will of an unemployed world
take away my options
limit my chances
send me to a food bank
of unhealthy processed gluten
that will make me more
fat and sick
tell me I didn't fulfil my duties
take away my human rights
this is England 2018
In sickness and in wealth.
thistles stretch their prickly arms afar
Militant Thistles