A is for by Marvyne Jenoff

November 25, 2023
Poem title: A is for Poet name: Marvyne Jenoff Poem: A is for what ails us and for aimlessness, the twins of aging. Ailments assail us; aimlessness can be achieved. A is for anxiety when you’re a child, then it becomes angst, now it’s anxiety again. Therefore aspire to aimlessness. Encourage it on weekends, free from medical appointments. Imagine being airborne as long as you wish alone in a silent, spacious airplane without the airplane: you’ve achieved aimlessness. Make aimlessness the stronger twin. From it arises articulateness, amiability, affection, and and A is for and— better than end. End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Marvyne Jenoff Previously published in Climbing the Rain, by Marvyne Jenoff, 2022. Marvyne Jenoff was born in Winnipeg and began publishing poems as a student at the University of Manitoba in the 1960s. A long-time resident of Toronto, she has published five books of poetry and one of short experimental fiction with Canadian literary presses. Her work appears in Canadian and international anthologies and journals. In recent years Marvyne has had a parallel career in the visual arts, creating and exhibiting works in watermedia and collage. One of these pieces, called “Hush, the Sibilant Rain,” is the cover image of her new poetry collection, Climbing the Rain (Silver Bow Publishing, New Westminster BC, March 2022). She is a member of the League of Canadian Poets and the Writers’ Union of Canada. The Marvyne Jenoff fonds are housed at the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University Library. Marvyne’s poem, “It’s There” is included in the anthology, Hologram: an Homage to P.K.Page, Editors: Yvonne Blomer and D.C. Reid, Caitlin Press, Fall, 2023.