Maria was a prolific Polish poet during Poland's interwar
period. There was some poetry by the grave so someone has called by recently.
I’ve never heard of her but there were a few trinkets by the headstone and some
new flowers so someone’s a fan.
She
was born in Kraków into a family of painters and grew
up surrounded by artists, writers, and intellectuals. Her granddad and dad were
both professional painters so it’s no surprise was artistic. She wrote and
painted but wrote fully after the breakdown of her second marriage (which also
ended in divorce.) She joined a group of poets in Warsaw and by 33 was a
prolific professional poet. She was prolific, writing about taboo topics like
abortion, affairs and incest - scandalous stuff at the time but daily fodder
for Channel Four these days.
How
did she end up in a graveyard a couple of miles from central Manchester? Aged
48 as the Second World War was starting she followed her third husband to
England. Sadly within five years she was diagnosed with bone cancer and was
paralysed down one side of her body. Her husband cared for her until she died
aged just 53 (he followed 25 years later.)
I've
called at this impressive headstone a few times as its near that of a Victoria
Cross soldier. There're always flowers on it. In 70+ years will there be
visitors and flowers at your grave? I doubt people will visit mine; they don't
even visit me now nor can some be bothered to answer my emails.
Looking looking…