In Memory of Wendy Jenkins

We are very sorry to have to note the passing of poet, editor and writer, Wendy Jenkins. Wendy was a friend with whom we both went way back — she edited our early Fremantle Press books, and was deeply loved and respected by many poets and writers. Wendy was also a remarkable poet of great poise and imagistic intensity. She spent much time perfecting the balance of her poems, and shaped lines down to the very morphemes and phonemes of words. She was an immensely generous and committed editor. There is so much to say about her, but for now, here is an elegy I have written for her:

Equilibrium

 

            IM Wendy Jenkins

 

 

Rivers brought balance

between sea and The Hills —

 

filaments, fibres, arteries.

And wetlands were at your

 

feet so you dipped your toe

and said the machines

 

of destruction can go

no further. We remember.

 

For us, it’s burnt orange sunsets

and quail through the stubble.

 

And though it’s up & over

from your milieu, we know

 

where you stand, where

you walk past limestone,

 

water moving through,

the heat arraigned.

 

 

            John Kinsella