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.

Epistemic Hubris: Unwarranted Certainty (About Complex Issues)

Posted on January 15, 2024 by JMN

Greek words are a nerd’s downfall. I’m a nerd, therefore felled by epistemic hubris. Whenever I encounter “epistemic,” as in Maggie Jackson’s essay, I have to mentally re-solder its connection to epistemology, which I barely retain has to do with … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Robert Andrew Parker (1927-2023): ‘Susceptibility to Happiness’

Posted on January 13, 2024 by JMN

What’s not to like about an artist-illustrator who partnered with poets and loved jazz? Parker played drums in a band called Jive by Five and is survived by five sons, all of whom play drums professionally. (One is an artist.) … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

‘Bare’ with Me: I’m of Two Minds

Posted on January 10, 2024 by JMN

Writer Charles Behlen told me that reading a poem could be like stepping off a plane into Madagascar when you thought your destination was Lubbock, Texas. Things would look different, he said. I took it as his way of chiding … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , | 5 Comments

‘God, in the Form of Lightning’

Posted on January 5, 2024 by JMN

“Calling myself religious while living a life unbeholden to Scripture doesn’t make sense, of course.” (Temim Fruchter) Temim Fruchter’s essay about her spiritual evolution struck me, another scriptural expat, as full of poetry. I was moved to lift statements from … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | 1 Comment

We’ve Dealt With Earth. Let’s Go Fix Mars

Posted on December 30, 2023 by JMN

(c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 3 Comments

Choices the Chosen Cherish

Posted on December 23, 2023 by JMN

I’m proud of the choice I madeto be squeezed from momma’s vaginain the Hamptons and not old Carolina. I’m proud that the daddy I chosewas several cuts above the rest,fetching me the fortune sans the quest. Proud I am of … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged | 10 Comments

Message in a Bubble

Posted on December 21, 2023 by JMN

Hola, H. He aquí todo un poema de un tal Ben Okri que sale en la revista Poetry de diciembre 2023. SEGOVIAI walked your acueducts at dawn.With giant legs they bestrode the landscapeOf the Moors. Stick insects. Like RomansOn stilts. … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Our Lady of the Westside” by Antonio López

Posted on December 15, 2023 by JMN

“When Davis’s poems are poetry, they are powerful.” (Langston Hughes, on Frank Marshall Davis) I’ve no basis for discerning what’s verse and what’s poetry other than whether it jostles a personal needle. I compare a poetry moment (loosely) to another … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Poetry Isn’t About

Posted on December 10, 2023 by JMN

I read verses that stir me,but can’t remember what they said.They don’t mean what they say,they are what they say.I read them again to be stirred;they keep not meaning, only being,leaving in my mind a memoryof being stirred by words.Grasping … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

There’s So Much to Be Said for Saying Less

Posted on December 8, 2023 by JMN

Quoth the raven, “Never mind.” (pace Poe) Afterword I’m copious and so are you. (From Cowpunk by Diane Seuss in Poetry, December 2023) (c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 1 Comment