Category Archives: Anthology

My collected writings and those of family members.

‘Digging Everywhere Until Things Gave’

Posted on September 29, 2024 by JMN

Adjacency can have a downside when it sparks comparison. “Praise Song for Annie Allen” by Angela Jackson is published alongside Gwendolyn Brooks’s “Memorial to Ed Bland” in Poetry, September 2024. The juxtaposition drives home for me how brightly Brooks shines … Continue reading →

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I Want to Be a Man Who Disdains Platitudes…

Posted on September 26, 2024 by JMN

a man who… … tells it like it is.… heard it from the horse’s mouth.… saw it coming. … sees the forest for the trees.— measures twice, cuts once.… wasn’t born yesterday. … trusts his gut.… takes the bull by … Continue reading →

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Morning Fruit

Posted on September 23, 2024 by JMN

When I write, I say words in my mind. I’m pretty sure I can type words as fast as I can think them. Sometimes it seems I’ve typed them even faster than that! I wash and slice an organic Ambrosia … Continue reading →

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I Made This Object. Call It a Sign.

Posted on September 20, 2024 by JMN

I made this object as a courtesy to visitors looking for my door.  Direct your steps this-a-way in order to accomplish your purpose, it implies.  All it actually says is “Entrance” — I didn’t have room for much more, but … Continue reading →

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The Ballad of Forty-Six

Posted on September 13, 2024 by JMN

DJ, my lord! The grail from which you suprunneth over, sir, with fulsomeness.By your leave I’ll tell it like it is:JD, as well, sips from a frothy cup. DJ, JD, a mirror’s dream times two,chosen well you have, each one … Continue reading →

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THAT God: The Argument With Him (or Them)

Posted on September 11, 2024 by JMN

Christian J. Collier publishes three poems in Poetry, September 2024: “God,” “Case Study” and “The Compline.” Spoken cleanly, rhythmically, hotly, they orbit around experience gleaned from the crucible of propagating life. Formal religion can be heavy on bone and light … Continue reading →

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‘I Handed This…Singular Life Over’: Kate Asche’s ‘[Untitled]’

Posted on August 30, 2024 by JMN

The words of Kate Asche’s poem “[Untitled]” (Poetry, May 2024) enact a sac-like image on the page. Leapfrog the spaces between them and they (the words) hang together as if magnetized, flowing into shattering assertions. A life is lost in … Continue reading →

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Calling All Cat Ladies

Posted on August 18, 2024 by JMN

What My Cat Teaches Me Crouch.ThenPounce. InThatOrder. (c) 2024 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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‘I Said Hello. Then You Said You Said Hello’

Posted on August 13, 2024 by JMN

I’m guessing you think there’s a typo in my heading. I know! The use of repetition in “The Renaissance,” a poem by Trey Moody (Poetry, May 2024), was a hook for me. The thirteen-line poem starts here: I said hello. … Continue reading →

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Survival of the Fiercest

Posted on August 4, 2024 by JMN

Various scriptural matter I read has the theme of the “test” through adversity. Failing the test consigns a person to The Fire — agony until the end of time. Flood, drought, pestilence, persecution, war, Vance, all manner of affliction are … Continue reading →

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