Doina Cornell
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My belly is as round as the green hill
My belly is as round as the green hill That they say the devil made with his hands Scooping out a ditch, down which rolled the water Now the wide and silver Severn. My baby will not come. I have tried sex. I have tried pineapple. Nothing scratches at the womb enough To make it […]
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Italian tourist
I could dive into the colours, inhale the colours, eat the colours with my eyes, be lost in them old Italian buildings: faded pale yellow peeling ochre salmon-pink terracotta red balconies overspilling with flowers,green plants and the colours, and the colours, are just glorious, peeling away to the two-tone stone beneath, white marble and brown […]
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Showing hate the Red Card: welcoming asylum seekers to our district
This article was originally published online at Amplify Stroud AT A TIME WHEN OUR WORLD feels ever more hostile and broken, when global and national forces beyond our control seem to rule our lives, and politicians of all colours take their lead from right-wing media scare stories about foreigners and immigrants – here is a […]
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Resignation speech as council leader
This afternoon I resigned as leader of Stroud District Council and tonight we elected a new leader and deputy. My resignation speech. I was elected leader of Stroud District Council in January 2018. During this time I have been proud to put the interests of the people of this district first, as well as the […]
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Standing for selection to be the next parliamentary candidate for Stroud – my experience
In view of the speculation as to why I was not put on the longlist for the Labour parliamentary selection for Stroud constituency, here is an account. The wider context The introduction to the Party rules governing the selection of parliamentary candidates states the following: An account of the longlisting process. The selection process for […]
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Winter Walk
In the still moment of winter’s short day Pale sun over the hills & hidden valleys And the russet-brown kestrel holding the sky firm against the wind – We are walking Your shoelace is broken & trailing in the mud & your black coat is raggedy But you are talking to me & I am […]
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My letter to Lexiteers: no one will notice
My letter published in the Morning Star today. Dear Editor Regarding the EU referendum, I know there are quite a few on the Left who will vote Leave. They reject the EU’s neoliberal, elitist, austerity agenda. I get that, and have some sympathy with those arguments.But if we vote to leave I don’t think anyone […]
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You can never know what people are thinking
I am going to mention two incidents. One. Fourteen year old girl, trying to fit in with her top set English class. End of the day, end of the week, the teacher thinks it’ll be fun to finish with a game of charades. My turn. They say: Jana of the Jungle. They say: Go back […]
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You can walk now
YOU CAN WALK NOW A year ago not yet born Silent, kicking, stretching out my stomach Stretching out time until I could not move or think except when I hauled myself up Cam Peak straight up, me, and you inside, unknown, closer to me and more known than you’ll ever be, a great big foot […]
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Poem for my daughter
A poem written for four month old Nera. You sprang so wise from the womb it seems your dark eyes look so solemnly upon the world. Your eyes are blue like the sea’s depths in mid-ocean, depths of my swimming dreams you swam inside me, dreaming yourself, as a fish, as a kicking child, as […]