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.

The Heron and the Hoopoe

Posted on October 24, 2023 by JMN

Never a bird had fairer scientific name than Upupa epops, the jaunty hoopoe, for which the Arabic is hudhud. “Heron” is balaSHUN. I experience this delicate lyric written in Arabic as all signal with no noise. If it alludes to … Continue reading →

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Mrs. Muzzle

Posted on October 20, 2023 by JMN

By Monday morning, a furious Mrs. Muzzle pounced on Uncle’s lap, took her petite paw and gave his smirking lips several wicked whacks. But he … Mrs. Muzzle

Posted in Commentary | 3 Comments

‘She Didn’t Do Innocence’

Posted on October 18, 2023 by JMN

“With students, sometimes she suggested that they try silence, not working at all. That, she believed, might be best for someone who was writing the wrong poems or producing too much.” (Colm Tóibín) She insisted on calling herself a writer. … Continue reading →

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‘2013-8-15’

Posted on October 15, 2023 by JMN

This is the second of 3 poems by Zakaria Mohammed published in the September 2023 edition of Poetry magazine. They date from 2013. (I noted the first one here). English translations by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha are in the Poetry issue … Continue reading →

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United We Stand Up and Yell, ‘FIGHT!’

Posted on October 10, 2023 by JMN

THE UNITED KINGDOM“Stand up and fight… etc. Stand up and fight – because when you stand up and fight,… etc… stands up and fights. And when… etc… stands up and fights,… etc… stands up and fights. And when… etc… stands … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | 7 Comments

‘Somewhat Impenetrable to Outsiders’

Posted on October 8, 2023 by JMN

“Cricket is first and foremost a dramatic spectacle. It belongs with theater, ballet, opera and the dance.” (Trinidadian Marxist thinker C.L.R. James) Cricket may be “somewhat impenetrable” to outsiders, per The Times, but only to those who resist penetration. The … Continue reading →

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Make England Grow Again

Posted on October 5, 2023 by JMN

At the MEGA confab in Manchesterthe conurbation’s thrumming with humbug.Bannon cannons bombast from his basement.Farage megaphones it, cuts a rug with Priti. Hardening arteries of reaction course with candlefire.Queues for Dutch rubs bend round every corner.Conning spoilers croon sweet nothings … Continue reading →

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Does ‘Maieutic’ Rhyme With ‘Epizootic’?

Posted on October 3, 2023 by JMN

“Rhyme is a bit like metaphor, a way of asserting a resemblance between otherwise distant terms.” (Kamran Javadizadeh) There’s the rhyming of abducted words pressed into sonic servitude on a lick and a whim, screaming at the end of their … Continue reading →

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Zakaria Mohammed’s Poem ‘2013-1-2’

Posted on September 30, 2023 by JMN

The September edition of Poetry magazine publishes 3 poems by Palestinian poet Zakaria Mohammed. English translations by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha accompany the Arabic texts. She publishes a translator’s note as well. The poet’s death on August 2, 2023, is noted … Continue reading →

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It’s Only Money, Ladies. Play Cricket!

Posted on September 27, 2023 by JMN

At this summer’s edition of the Hundred, a short-form cricket tournament in England, umpires for the men’s games — all of them men except for Redfern — were paid three times as much as umpires at the women’s games, seven … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , | 3 Comments