Author Archives: JMN

Unknown's avatar

About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.

“Odor of Sanctity”

Posted on August 24, 2018 by JMN

Odor of Sanctity James Mansfield Nichols The body is detritus wrested free From the last-minute clutch of agony. The mortal launchpad of a soul now lies Charred by the life’s fierce burn, the prey of flies. The faithful fight for … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Reflection on Popular Entertainment

Posted on August 24, 2018 by JMN

I’ve never snorted cocaine or been present when someone else did. But I would know exactly how to do it because I’ve seen it five thousand times in movies and TV. I’ve never held a handgun with that cupped, two-handed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

“A Prayer for My Daughter” (3)

Posted on August 23, 2018 by JMN

I’m nervous if a post of mine runs longer than a couple of scrolls, so I’m parceling the translation now into one stanza at a time until the end. I realize that I run the risk of confining myself to … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Adverbs Beware

Posted on August 23, 2018 by JMN

I read somewhere today that someone said that something “almost ought to be illegal.” A statement like that always reminds me of how terrified I am, as a stylist, of adverbs. I estimate that at least half the time I … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 3 Comments

“A Prayer for My Daughter” (2)

Posted on August 22, 2018 by JMN

“A Prayer for My Daughter” by W. B. Yeats (Spanish translation by James Mansfield Nichols) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/14635/a-prayer-for-my-daughter A Prayer for My Daughter (2) Once more the storm is howling, and half hid Under this cradle-hood and coverlid My child sleeps on. … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“A Prayer for my Daughter” (1)

Posted on August 22, 2018 by JMN

“A Prayer for My Daughter” by W. B. Yeats (Spanish translation by James Mansfield Nichols) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/14635/a-prayer-for-my-daughter Celebrating recent renewal of contact with my long-lost daughter raised in Spain, I undertake this translation into Spanish of Yeats’s “Prayer for My Daughter.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Frozen Versus Canned

Posted on August 21, 2018 by JMN

Hollie Jean Burmeister makes such a to-do over her old-fashioned frozen pies. I don’t know what the big fuss is. The canned pies at Mustang Mart cost ninety-eight cents apiece, half of what the frozen ones do. The Kandi-Whip gets … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Personal Goal

Posted on August 20, 2018 by JMN

When I was a student of literature I recall being influenced by a school of critical theory (Rene Wellek?) that said an author’s biography was irrelevant to a consideration of his or her text. Once it was loosed from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Tale of Two Treatments

Posted on August 18, 2018 by JMN

I once took a poetry writing seminar conducted by a prominent American poet based at the time in Colby College. She was already an eminence in the early stages of her career and has achieved Olympian status since. I lunched … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Comment on a Comment

Posted on August 18, 2018 by JMN

I very much appreciate supportive comments. They encourage me to up my game. I quoted a paragraph from a remembrance of V.S. Naipaul published by Aatish Taseer in the NYTimes: Taseer is a writer I had not encountered previously. What … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | 3 Comments