Category Archives: Anthology

My collected writings and those of family members.

‘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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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‘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 →

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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 →

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‘Truth’ Is Straight-Up Naked, Dude

Posted on November 25, 2023 by JMN

“You have said the actual truth.” (Musk) (Michelle Goldberg, “Why on Earth Are Jewish Leaders Praising Elon Musk?” New York Times, 11-20-23) UNSTABLE GENIUSES, THEY GO AND COMEThe dude bogarts a joint and jinxes X,hocks the truth with loogies of … Continue reading →

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‘Cuando Me Vaya’ by Javier Sánchez

Posted on November 20, 2023 by JMN

The Spanish text I translate to English here is from Las palabras de Javier (November 16, 2023). In reading poetry of the day I brace for being left in the lurch, for being denied more than a cerebral engagement, at … Continue reading →

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Badonkadonks, Ta-Tas and Bunga Bunga

Posted on November 10, 2023 by JMN

Italian prime minister Georgia Meloni is in the news for rinsing her hands of longtime, live-in boyfriend Andrea Giambruno, caught prospecting for group sex. Reportage has reached again for bunga bunga, which keeps this reliable trope of male-hormonal culture merrily … Continue reading →

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Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Backside

Posted on November 7, 2023 by JMN

“The whole secret of politics is knowing who hates who.” (Kevin Phillips) “MY pronoun,” said Cruz, “is ‘kiss my ass.’”On Ted’s form of address I’ll take a pass.A smooch bestowed on the croup of this solonis honor paid to the … Continue reading →

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‘After the Music, We Want Meaning’

Posted on November 4, 2023 by JMN

“We love the balance and control of rhyme even if it unbalances us, but, after the music, we want meaning.” (Adam Gopnik) When Adam Gopnik writes, “No prosody can immunize poetry against the test of experience… What’s always at stake … Continue reading →

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