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.

Bronze Age Vainglory

Posted on March 23, 2026 by JMN

“Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today…! [etc.]”Say What? Archive Wild beasts of the wilderness, when war breaks into flame, follow me from the empty wastes;Follow me, (and) you will see the blood of the foemen streaming between the … Continue reading →

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The Urgent Poetry Is of Brevity

Posted on March 21, 2026 by JMN

The time: a-passing; the clock: a-ticking,The digilords at mind bone pecking.Garrulity — double barreled, bore-hefty,Dilatory, broad in the beam;Lyric rifled, suppressed, curt but rich,Penetrative, swervy toward lean.Speak short intensely well, elseLie pecked to death in din. Obscene. (c) 2026 JMN … Continue reading →

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‘Tendrá que ser’ (It Will Have to Be)

Posted on March 18, 2026 by JMN

My translation of “Tendrá que ser” (It Will Have to Be) by Azurea20 follows: IT WILL HAVE TO BE I shoulder youlike an invisible flag,or a great fire lilyblooming out of mefor bestowing on what’s not there yet.No one sees … Continue reading →

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From Whose Pulpit?

Posted on March 13, 2026 by JMN

… A majority of Protestant voters, the largest religious group in the United States, align with Republicans. And there are signs of weakening Democratic support among other religious groups, including Hispanic Catholics.(Lisa Lerer and Elizabeth Dias) I’ll whisper something to … Continue reading →

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Squawk Transmission 1 & 2

Posted on March 3, 2026 by JMN

By this time I should have acquired enough sense to realize that the cause of wars is sin.(Thomas Merton, The Seven-Storey Mountain) GREENLAND FROTTAGEThe sub-scalpal domain north of the eyeballsIs given to a chronic restivenessnessSharp as a rhinoceros’s horn.It knows … Continue reading →

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Glimpses and Manias (I’m So All About This Painting)

Posted on February 28, 2026 by JMN

This thumping doodle by Lee Krasner — whatever it is, I like it, not least because it looks like some kind of writing devised by a sensibility going for broke. For that matter it could be the shower tile of … Continue reading →

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(The Ruler Protests the Land That He Rules)

Posted on February 26, 2026 by JMN

(The ruler protests the land that he rules.)Don’t tar my riff, piggy, snarls the boar.Blast the damned Beatitudes with gas!(The ruler protests the land that he tools.)Blare the Ten Commandments in the schools!Your cities are the Sodoms of Gomorre!(The ruler … Continue reading →

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The Gentleman From Kentucky Rises to Eruct

Posted on February 23, 2026 by JMN

“Eruct” is a cultismo in English but common currency in Spanish as “eructar.” It means “to belch.” Let’s conjugate! ¡Conjuguemos! Present IndicativeI belch — eructo (eructas, eructa, eructamos, eructáis, eructan)Preterite IndicativeI belched — eructé (eructaste, eructó, eructamos, eructasteis, eructaron)Imperfect IndicativeI … Continue reading →

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Elephants Are Eminently Sentient

Posted on February 21, 2026 by JMN

ELEPHANTS ARE EMINENTLY SENTIENT Of course they are, you ninny. So is anAmoeba in its way. But these big beastsIn magnitude are titans of sweetness;Matriarchal, family prone, pacific,Communicative browsing herbivores. Pressed upon a time into the miseryOf cock-besotted, bipedal mammalians,Elephants … Continue reading →

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Degrees, Accolades, Publications, Affiliations (DAPA)

Posted on February 17, 2026 by JMN

DAPA and something about gender orientation and ethnicity are common data points in Poetry’s thumbnail profiles of contributors to the magazine. They’re like snapshots of bodybuilders flexed for pose-off. Musculature duly noted, but here’s what’s truly interesting: How do you … Continue reading →

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