There’s something enticingly intimate about a book of poetry. As though you’ve jimmied the author’s locked diary, with their permission! And like most private recordings, words, more often than not, require decrypting, translation of personal shorthand, sentiment and nuance in phrasing, symbology, layout and cadence. Each compilation of poems is, in a way, a treasure map, where X doesn’t always mark the spot, but may instead simply point somewhere new.
This is how I felt when I received Climbing the Rain, the new book of poems by Marvyne Jenoff, which her publisher introduces in this manner:
“This book gently probes the ravages and the comforts of the aging process and the softly pokes at the emotional landscape changes within the mind that happen on the journey into and through the senior years. These poems reflect change and endurance and their relationship to each other and the spirit. Life is filled with many tiny moments that are often paid little attention to, but Jenoff brings these seemingly insignificant moments to the forefront where they can shine for a few seconds and spin the reader into a memory of their own that has almost been forgotten.”
While the author herself begins her latest collection with this:
“Rain falls, / from what beginning? // I rise, / toward what end?”
And like that, a tone is set. Introspection, growth, and observation, with an ever-scanning gaze to both past and future. This is a flight of poetry for any age, but speaks from a narrative perspective of one approaching the elliptical end of life’s continuum rather than one with a toe on the starting line.
Again, from the book’s descriptive overview:
“Marvyne Jenoff’s deep understanding of human nature’s ups and downs, joys and trepidations is ever prevalent throughout the book as she weaves a pathway and gently shines a light into the hazy corners and dusty closets encountered on our own separate journeys as we travel life’s winding road. This is a balanced look into NOW and THEN as the sections in the book suggest. Readers will find themselves recalling memories and reliving magic moments from yesteryear as they read the lines and then read between the lines to find their own truths; their own inner selves. She deftly wields both the soft and sharpened edge of her pen in harmony with the subject matter presented in each poem. Jenoff shows us the colour of the weather and allows us to climb the rain of our own private world with a greater sense of being and our place in the cosmos of body, mind and spirit.”
Reading this book of poems, like any good compilation, reveals greater depth with each subsequent read. The way good food tends to be made over time, seasoned, savoured, and never, ever rushed. Hats off to a fine writer and the publishing team who helped shape and share this collection of work with the rest of us.
Marvyne Jenoff was born in Winnipeg and began publishing poems in Canadian literary journals as a student at the University of Manitoba in the 1960s. Now a long-time resident of the Toronto area, she has published four books of poetry and short fiction with Canadian literary presses. Her poetry has appeared in anthologies and journals across Canada and internationally. Marvyne Jenoff is a member of the League of Canadian Poets and The Writers Union of Canada. She is also a visual artist. For further information visit her website: www.marvynejenoff.org
- Title: Climbing the Rain: Poems
- Author: Marvyne Jenoff
- Publisher: Silver Bow Publishing, 2022
- ISBN: 9781774032039
- Pgs: 140
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Bill Arnott is the bestselling author of A Season on Vancouver Island, theGone Viking travelogues, andA Perfect Day for a Walk: The History, Cultures, and Communities of Vancouver, on Foot(Arsenal Pulp Press, Fall 2024). Recipient of a Fellowship at London’s Royal Geographical Society for his expeditions, Bill’s a frequent presenter and contributor to magazines, universities, podcasts, TV and radio. When not trekking with a small pack and journal, Bill can be found on Canada’s west coast, where he lives near the sea on Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh land.