THE ORPHAN AND THE STRANGER
I’m an orphan, sir,
my mother’s mute;
see these paper birds I make
(or fans or valentines),
tell me they sing, sir,
tell me I sing
I’m an orphan, sir;
these paper birds with hands I fold
with heels I crush their wings
their eyes
(my mother so serene):
scold me, sir, or weep,
forbid me
Don’t look! I’m making something
white and small
and secret as a paper soul can be:
her flesh is racked and darkening,
help me see.
High as the firmament she flies
and hides the sun:
I’m folding perfect birds again,
each smaller than the last, each one,
and smaller, smaller, smaller I,
find the orphan quickly,
keep my cry.
Published in
--The Orphan and the Stranger, 1985, Toronto: Wolsak and Wynn Publishers, and
--Tree and Fruit: A Writer’s Life and Work, 2024, Toronto: Twoffish Press
I’m an orphan, sir,
my mother’s mute;
see these paper birds I make
(or fans or valentines),
tell me they sing, sir,
tell me I sing
I’m an orphan, sir;
these paper birds with hands I fold
with heels I crush their wings
their eyes
(my mother so serene):
scold me, sir, or weep,
forbid me
Don’t look! I’m making something
white and small
and secret as a paper soul can be:
her flesh is racked and darkening,
help me see.
High as the firmament she flies
and hides the sun:
I’m folding perfect birds again,
each smaller than the last, each one,
and smaller, smaller, smaller I,
find the orphan quickly,
keep my cry.
Published in
--The Orphan and the Stranger, 1985, Toronto: Wolsak and Wynn Publishers, and
--Tree and Fruit: A Writer’s Life and Work, 2024, Toronto: Twoffish Press
Writing
Self-Portrait, Writer (Office Series)
Marvyne's poetry first appeared in Canadian literary journals in the early 1960s, when she was a student of English Literature at the University of Manitoba (B.A., 1964). Since then her poetry and fiction have been published by Canadian literary presses.
She writes for the pleasure of creating beauty and order in a capricious world. She enjoys both logic and illogic as components of a full life. Her poetry and fiction are loosely imagined and carefully thought out at the same time.
Marvyne's publications include books, chapbooks and individual pieces in journals and anthologies. In 2006 she started her own very small publishing company, Twoffish Press, in order to control the timing of publication, book design, and distribution.
Memberships
Marvyne is an elected member of The League of Canadian Poets and The Writers Union of Canada.
She writes for the pleasure of creating beauty and order in a capricious world. She enjoys both logic and illogic as components of a full life. Her poetry and fiction are loosely imagined and carefully thought out at the same time.
Marvyne's publications include books, chapbooks and individual pieces in journals and anthologies. In 2006 she started her own very small publishing company, Twoffish Press, in order to control the timing of publication, book design, and distribution.
Memberships
Marvyne is an elected member of The League of Canadian Poets and The Writers Union of Canada.
Archives
Marvyne's papers are held at the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, Canadian Literature, Mills Memorial Library, McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario. To see a detailed list of her work click on Marvyne Jenoff Fonds.
Marvyne's papers are held at the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, Canadian Literature, Mills Memorial Library, McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario. To see a detailed list of her work click on Marvyne Jenoff Fonds.