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.

Infinite Scroll on the Scripture Front

Posted on October 22, 2024 by JMN

The cross-referencing contained in scripture reminds me of the infinite scrolling feature that afflicts social media. In the scriptures it doesn’t have pernicious intent, but can lead, nevertheless, to addictive chasing after the satisfaction of curiosity if one isn’t careful. … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Colorful Ooze’

Posted on October 19, 2024 by JMN

The Met’s new show… makes clear how astonishing it is that paint, of all things, became the center of Western art… There may never be another big American exhibition about this freakish little era, when artists figured out how to … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Artists’ Palettes. They’re Artyfacts!

Posted on October 16, 2024 by JMN

The phrase “smeared with [a] personalised spectrum of paint” snagged me. The palettes are interesting in relation to who used them and/or for what they suggest about the painter’s “attack,” for lack of a better word. Fifty of these small … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Song of My Selves

Posted on October 13, 2024 by JMN

(c) 2024 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Turner, Monet, Morisot

Posted on October 11, 2024 by JMN

Volcanic ash from Mount Tambora’s eruption, as well as coal pollution, gave Turner glowing atmospheres to paint in his day. So did the toxic air enveloping the city of London which Monet responded to in some of his paintings a … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Ankle Bells Aquiver

Posted on October 9, 2024 by JMN

Economy and directness are said to be paramount traits of poetry. “Directness” does heavy lifting in that statement. The poem by Alafia Nicole Sessions titled “Immature Animals” (Poetry, October 2024) stumps, like something glimpsed that you can’t identify, but so … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

‘His Lesions Are Legion…’

Posted on October 5, 2024 by JMN

In a single poem Gwendolyn Brooks wraps up in a big bow the harrowing, goofy joy, the confused exultation salted with brow-knitting angst, that enters into raising yourself with children. “Life for my child is simple, and is good” is … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

From the NSFW Annals of Aesop

Posted on October 3, 2024 by JMN

For preservation of decorum in public speech, generations of writers have stood on the shoulders of people like Sir Richard Burton, 19th-century translator of the Arabian Nights. He fathered workarounds with which to buffer readers from Anglo Saxon four-letter words, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Zen Fire Alarm: The Sound of One Hand Slapping

Posted on October 1, 2024 by JMN

“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”  (Trump) (c) 2024 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , | 1 Comment

‘Digging Everywhere Until Things Gave’

Posted on September 29, 2024 by JMN

Adjacency can have a downside when it sparks comparison. “Praise Song for Annie Allen” by Angela Jackson is published alongside Gwendolyn Brooks’s “Memorial to Ed Bland” in Poetry, September 2024. The juxtaposition drives home for me how brightly Brooks shines … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 3 Comments