Category Archives: Anthology

My collected writings and those of family members.

Oh Besity! (Anthem)

Posted on November 4, 2025 by JMN

Oh Besity! With tendernessOur country stands for thee,Staunch rampart against slendernessFrom sea to shining sea. Oh Besity! Forsake us not,No di-et shrink our girth.Caloric excess be our lot,Our destiny from birth. Ours the fat and ours the cream,All exercise to … Continue reading →

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Amanuensis

Posted on October 28, 2025 by JMN

…chanting in unison, a mobof flightless birds, one timelesscomplicated psalmafter another…(From “Transfiguration” by Michael Dumanis, Poetry, September 2025) A poem reminded me of you, old friend.Judy, Judy, Judy.You came back from a summer’s Italyspeaking of the Italian boysthronging street corners,half … Continue reading →

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How Translations ‘Fail’

Posted on October 27, 2025 by JMN

(Update, Oct. 26, 2025. Some time after writing what’s below I’ve encountered Mitch Teemley’s citation of Psalm 37:23. What’s a good word for how the Quran and the Bible interact? I’ve no expertise in either, but I see signs of … Continue reading →

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Right On! New Directions in Doggerel

Posted on October 13, 2025 by JMN

With its loping equine cadence, amphibrachic tetrameter holds morbid fascination for the doggerel-besotted. No one knows what it is until they hear it. Then they go, “Oh yeah. There once was a girl from Nantucket.” But they’re wrong, that’s only … Continue reading →

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‘Tirdy-Tree and One-Tird % of the Land Is Trilled, the Other Two-Tirds Not So Much’

Posted on October 4, 2025 by JMN

My title is a headline from the Bulletin of the Apico-Dental Voiceless Fricative Foundation. “Many tink current trends are a trowback to the Tirties.” (Dr. Thurgood Thackery, A-DVFF President) c) 2025 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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Sean Singer and ‘Bird’

Posted on September 29, 2025 by JMN

Often as not a poem gives me a right old drubbing while stealing my lunch money, cackling in cold delight all the while. Instead of picking up my Big Chief tablet, shrugging and slinking back to class, I squeal like … Continue reading →

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The World Is Running Out of Facts!

Posted on September 24, 2025 by JMN

Intelligence is being burned at an alarming rate. Fact incineration technologies birthed in Silicon Gulch have accelerated the depletion of natural reserves. In the advanced world, gas derived from fact-burning fuels everything from data centers and crypto mining to the … Continue reading →

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Azurea20: ‘Permit Me a Space Wherein to Hang My Voice’

Posted on September 22, 2025 by JMN

“I personally learned my own craft of writing poetry through translating poetry… I think one way to deepen the appreciation of poetry is to approach it through translation.” (Arthur Sze, new U.S. poet laureate) “Señora de las Cosas Errantes” by … Continue reading →

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Samatar Elmi Got There Before Me

Posted on September 19, 2025 by JMN

“We’re planning a way to allow wide swaths of the world to elect representatives to a new governance board… Because if I weren’t in on this I’d be, like, ‘Why do these fuckers get to decide what happens to me?’” … Continue reading →

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The Rivers That Reaches for the Ocean

Posted on September 6, 2025 by JMN

“You’re only given one little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” (Robin Williams, quoted by Mitch Teemley) The Guadalupe reaches for the ocean.The Pedernales reaches for the ocean.The Rio Grande reaches for the ocean.The Colorado reaches for the ocean.The … Continue reading →

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