WISBECH poet Doris Corti has written a poem to be read on October 5, National Poetry Day, at Ely Library. The theme of National Poetry Day this year is Identity , and the library authorities asked for a poem that included a reference to the Fenlands. Do

WISBECH poet Doris Corti has written a poem to be read on October 5, National Poetry Day, at Ely Library.

The theme of National Poetry Day this year is 'Identity', and the library authorities asked for a poem that included a reference to the Fenlands. Doris's poem, Fenland Identities, does just that:

FENLAND IDENTITIES

This is the land of water and skies,

Of stillness and quiet and long straight ways,

Where church and cathedral seem to rise

From a misty light at the start of days.

In a distant field a plough moves along

With gulls swooping low to follow behind,

And the fields and towns are a fenland song

With rhythms in land and sea that is tamed.

Fertile fields and farms and the high dyke roads

With houses and churches now built close by,

And rivers meander as clouds unfold

To reveal a vast, magnificent sky.

It's here in the land of water and skies

That Fenlanders forge their identities.

Doris is a widely published poet. She has given readings at Wisbech and other local libraries, and leads poetry workshops at writing conferences on a regular basis.

She is Poetry Adviser to the prestigious Society of Women Writers and Journalists (www.swwj.co.uk), a nationwide body of writers formed in 1894 to support and promote female writers of all kinds, and Poetry Critic for the national magazine, Writers' News.