Marvyne Jenoff
WRITING
Seven Pencils, photograph, 6" x 10"
October 2010
An Evening of Poetry
In this story, in the form of a letter, two oddly matched poets share a journey and a reading.
The subtext explores the nature and power of poetry.
Written in 1976, originally published in Canadian Woman Studies, Fall 1987.
Now published as a chapbook (17 pages), Twoffish Press. $6.00 twoffish@ca.inter.net
November 2008
CRACKERJACK UMBRELLA, Poetry, Twoffish Press, Toronto ON
But this morning I was dead for a moment. --from “A Lesson in Resuscitation”
…a place of perpetual littleness,
where the waves repeat and are new --from “Little”
He beckons them with a blade of grass in his hand,
he’s poor and that’s all he can think of --from “In Toronto”
Lucy Relaxo, Joan of Arts --from "Summer Story"
…the blue swimsuit,
expanded and loosened with age like the poet’s body
and, fair exchange, the poet’s mind --from “The Truth and the Earring”
Launched in November 2008, CRACKERJACK UMBRELLA brings together unpublished
and long-ago-published poems that do not appear in my poetry books. These are keepers
that begged for the light of day. Many have been extensively revised for this book.
The poems were written over a period of several decades. The two sections, Then and Now, reflect a change of perspective over time. The approximate date of first writing is given.
In some cases comments have been added to contextualize and illuminate the work.
As an impatient person who enjoys making things, I chose to design and physically produce
this book myself. Printed in Comic San Serif and Garamond on cover stock and copy paper,
it is assembled and bound by hand.
--from the Author's Note
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2007 "Alive, Unique," essay in Imagination in Action, ed. Carol Malyon, The Mercury Press, Toronto ON
First, there is an underlying deep focus, a meditative state, and I notice my breathing
slow down of its own accord. Then, in the elevator, a neighbour happens to mention the weather,
and a poem begins: climbing the rain.
2006 Four chapbooks, Twoffish Press Toronto ON
Anniversary Portrait (story)
Happily Ever After (story)
Hercules by my Side (story)
I tried to wheel the microwave up the long path though the park. I thought of poor Hercules
rolling that boulder up a hill, not being able to stop it from rolling down and having to roll it all the way up
again. People have told me it wasn't Hercules with the boulder, it was Sisyphus. I say one doesn't get
to my age without the courage of one's convictions.
Truth, Earring, Microwave (narrative poem)
She fondly remembers protective personages,
the Matron Saint of lost earrings,
the Spinster Saint of lost single earrings,
the Tooth Fairy, whom the poet promotes
to the Swallowed-Dental-Crown Fairy,
rich and tragic.
Truth, Earring, Microwave is out of print. The revised version appears in
CRACKERJACK UMBRELLA as The Truth and the Earring
1995 The Emperor's Body, a progression of thirteen experimental stories, Ekstasis Editions, Victoria BC
Partial contents:
Sat on a Wall
Chicken Little, the Prophet
The Fox, the Grapes, and the Author
The Hare, the Tortoise, and the Human Race
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", the International Anthem
Cinderella and All the Slippers: The Story of the Story
It sometimes happens that a kingdom loses its sense of romance and falls into lassitude.
The present story, a Cinderella story, found itself in such a kingdom.
The Emperor's Body
The citizens enjoyed the beach, and there flourished a long uneventful dynasty
characterized by reflection: the Emperor of One Toe in the Water, the Emperor of
Two Toes in the Water, and so on, to the Twin Emperors, Their Majesties of
Infinity and Grain of Sand.
1985 The Orphan and the Stranger, poetry, Wolsak and Wynn Publishers, Toronto ON
1975 Hollandsong, poetry, Oberon Press, Ottawa ON
1972 No Lingering Peace, poetry, Fiddlehead Press, Frederiction NB
mjenoff@istar.ca (not a link)