Author Archives: JMN

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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.

Late-Breaking from on High

Posted on August 7, 2023 by JMN

It may be that God doesn’t talk only to Their anointed few; I’ve had word from that Rascal myself. Here’s what I believe They said: I DIDN’T CREATE LIGHT WITH A THIRD-PERSON COMMAND AS YOU HAVE PROPOSED IN YOUR LITTLE … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

‘The Tongue Has No Bones.’ Yeah!

Posted on August 6, 2023 by JMN

There’s no mistaking a language which can uncork a grave accent, an acute accent, a circumflex accent and a dieresis, all in the space of a single written utterance, as not-French. As I coax these diacritic delicacies from my keyboard … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 3 Comments

Christian Wiman: ‘Ars Poetica’

Posted on August 5, 2023 by JMN

2.These lost and charnel thoughtsless thoughts than bits of stunI suddenly find myself among;that are the me I am when I am notsleeked to reason and pacific despairspeak to me of a pain that saves,some endmost ear to shrive the … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Light Meditation

Posted on August 2, 2023 by JMN

Que la lumière soit! Et la lumière fut.¡Que la luz sea! Y la luz fue. (Que haya luz. Y hubo luz.)Let light BE! And light WAS. I realize God’s literal words were, “Let there be light.” Thinking about religion grammatically … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Who Was the Poet That Said…

Posted on August 1, 2023 by JMN

… Something like: The bird-of-paradise that’s flying up your ass is also flying up mine? You know how, now and then, you simply need a particular poem in order to carry on? “Marvin” something? I’ve tried to track down the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Pollution of Advertising

Posted on July 31, 2023 by JMN

There will always be too much to do, no matter what you do. But the ironic upside of this seemingly dispiriting fact is that you needn’t beat yourself up for failing to do it all… Instead, you can pour your … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 8 Comments

‘Shouldn’t Be Hard’ But IS

Posted on July 30, 2023 by JMN

It shouldn’t be hard to agree that the highest purpose of the First Amendment is to protect speech we like the least — speech we are sure is pernicious, bigoted, obscene or potentially harmful to health. Thus spaketh Bret Stephens, … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged | 3 Comments

A Drumbeat

Posted on July 28, 2023 by JMN

I can’t remember the journalist’s name (Jon Pareles?), but several years ago I read an article about James Brown’s “Funky Drummer.” In the recording, Brown puts the spotlight on his drummer Clyde Stubblefield, who plays a brief but memorable drum … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Accent and Affect

Posted on July 27, 2023 by JMN

I heard a Nebraska state legislator say, “I’m extremely from Nebraska.” The adverb was novel. I’m from Texas, but not “extremely.” If I’d been raised in Terre Haute I’d be a Hoosier (but not extremely). What arrests me more than … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Etel Adnan: ‘Words Are Social’

Posted on July 26, 2023 by JMN

Lebanese-American painter-poet-novelist Etel Adnan (1925-2021) was interviewed by Gabriel Coxhead for the June 2018 issue of Apollo. In the 1970s, having returned to Beirut to work as a journalist, she was forced to flee to Paris when the civil war … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments