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.

A Conservative with Elite Style

Posted on July 12, 2020 by JMN

But there was one small difficulty: This hawk was no Truman or Reagan, but rather a reality-television mountebank whose real attitude toward China policy was, basically, whatever gets me re-elected works. Who has heard recently, or ever, the word “mountebank”? … Continue reading →

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Why Do Poets Ampersand?

Posted on July 12, 2020 by JMN

The poem is “Sacrament I” by Robin Gow (Poetry, March 2020). Excerpt, first stanza: & all the faucets pour oil or milk.We fill father’s bottles, the brown and green;thick glass blood cells, a throat-slit pouring silk.When will the baptisms make … Continue reading →

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Navy Blue: A Nurse’s Medallion

Posted on July 10, 2020 by JMN

(c) 2020 JMN

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Nantucket Water-Fetching Saga

Posted on July 9, 2020 by JMN

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Jill and Jack went out the backEquipped with a large bucket.Jill said, “Both hands now, Jack, you prat,And this time let’s not…” (c) 2020 JMN

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What Does a Poem Teach? Fluidity

Posted on July 8, 2020 by JMN

Excerpts are from the poem “A Future History” by Suzi L. Garcia (Poetry, March 2020). A muster of peacocks show off their tails, but instead of feathers, knives. This line introduces me to “muster,” a collective noun applied to peacocks. … Continue reading →

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Handshake

Posted on July 7, 2020 by JMN

This photo captures a moment when a ritual handshake marked a pause in our Civil War. The Virginia Monument… marks the departure point of Pickett’s Charge, an ill-fated assault launched 157 years ago on July 3 on the final afternoon … Continue reading →

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Rudolfo Anaya (1937 — 2020)

Posted on July 6, 2020 by JMN

“Bless Me, Ultima” repeatedly drew the ire of censors, who cited what they viewed as foul language and anti-Catholic messaging… The book was banned in California, Colorado and… New Mexico. In 1981, the school board in Bloomfield, N.M., burned copies … Continue reading →

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Translated Poem: ‘In the March’

Posted on July 5, 2020 by JMN

In the MarchRené Char (1907 — 1988)(Translated from the French by JMN) These incessant and phosphorescent streaks of death upon self that we read in the eyes of those who love us, without wanting to conceal them from them. Must … Continue reading →

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What Does a Poem “Say”?

Posted on July 2, 2020 by JMN

The poem is “A Future History” by Suzi L. Garcia (Poetry, March 2020). It’s a short prose poem. For my own purposes I want to paraphrase it to suggest what I think it’s “about.” I’m not at all sure this … Continue reading →

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Vectors

Posted on June 30, 2020 by JMN

On Sunday, [Texas governor] Abbott said that as many as 5,000 people a day were being diagnosed with the virus… … Vice-president [Pence] also urged Texans to wear masks “wherever it’s indicated”, saying “we know from experience, it will slow … Continue reading →

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