Born in east Yorkshire, one of five children, to an English father and an Italian mother. 
They were both lecturers and interpreters. Maria was raised first in East Yorkshire 
then in North Manchester, near the Pennine Moors. She studied Law in Leeds, 
qualifed as a solicitor and worked in Yorkshire in both general practice and 
public environmental law. She now writes prose and poetry on matters close 
to her and is influenced by many writers with a leaning towards 
Ted Hughes and Philip Larkin 

Recess
 
I am alone in danger
Balanced on a stone sloped deep ravine
A deluge of water roaring through
Emerging from a sheltered cavern
 
I am with strangers
though sometimes young
for whom I am responsible
The water below eddies violently
and I am told that no one has
survived its crossing
though it is the only way to go
 
Now I am in a valley
punctuated by isolated mountains
We have been captured
and I am in fear of escape
though I know I have no choice
 
I flee and find gas stations in the foothill niche of mountains.
I am peering at pantechnicons their
drivers have descended and are talking.
I am unsure of approach
 
Somehow again on the precarious slope
Doubted with fear
I cannot decide if I should try
then we all fall
We do not perish though
realise surviving we will never be the same
 


Bright, pleading eyes

Bright, pleading eyes,
ringlets, clinging to her head,
fragile arms and legs
determining
to complete the tasks before her.

Life, a daily completion of small shores:
Tidying up around her and
walking to the shop and
trying not to think too much
in case the thoughts confuse her.

We used to learn the simple tasks together, 
then illness took away her thoughts, 
and became the child who does not know if she wants to be so old