Maria Jastrzębska was born in Warsaw and grew up in London. She now lives in Brighton. Her collections include Postcards From Poland (Working Press), Home From Home (Flarestack), Syrena (Redbeck Press 2004) and I’ll Be back Before You Know It (Pighog Press, later in 2008). She is co-editor of Forum Polek bilingual women’s anthology, Poetry South (2007) and Whoosh! (2008) a new queer writing anthology.

Her work appears in anthologies and journals such as Images of Women (Arrowhead) and Poetry International Web, in the UK and in Finland, France, Romania and Slovenia.

Maria also recommends www.thesouth.org.uk and www.south-pole.org.uk

Why d’you do it Billy?

Red-faced men with white hair
and blue eyes are the worst

especially with a gut that hangs
over their belt or palms that sweat.

He always said he was terrified
from the minute he woke up

though his eyes shone blinking
deep-sea diver to hello sailor blue.

Nights were easier, he said,nce
he took to the bottle again.

Men who look like that remind me
that he’s dead. I’d rather think

he just forgot to ring or maybe
that he finally moved to Spain.

from I’ll Be Back Before You Know It (Pighog Press)