Category Archives: Anthology

My collected writings and those of family members.

‘Smidgins’: Afterthought

Posted on April 17, 2022 by JMN

A “smidgin” is an imprecise, tiny amount of something, a modest dollop. As a poem title, the jocular word is self-effacing but also coyly assertive, like a humble-brag. I got dirt under my nails the other day with Rae Armantrout’s … Continue reading →

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How Poetry Feels About Itself

Posted on April 12, 2022 by JMN

Rae Armantrout’s poem “Smidgins” fulfills an imperative of lyric, which is “Don’t be gassy.” Also another imperative, which is “Talk in riddles.” My crumpled, wrinkled / blurt / of flesh. // “Let’s face it,” / it says. * … Ravaged … Continue reading →

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On ‘Love Letter to a Dead Body’

Posted on April 2, 2022 by JMN

I’m intrigued by the tension in Jake Skeet’s [sic] poem: Its title juxtaposes love with death, and its rhythms press against the nettle-like images. The first stanza’s images are scarred and rough with “burr and sage,” “bottles” and the “cirrhosis … Continue reading →

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Coming Unstuck With Glück

Posted on March 27, 2022 by JMN

I’ve acquiesced to much of what I can’t quite fathom in Louise Glück’s poetry. Enough reaches me to defeat surliness. I feel surprisingly addressed at times: … You are like me whether or not you admit it. / Unsatisfied. Meticulous. … Continue reading →

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How I Do Reading, Sadly

Posted on March 23, 2022 by JMN

It seems when I encounter a poem I start an argument with it; I approach it as a provocation. Why is it written this way? What is it trying to tell me? What should I feel or think after reading … Continue reading →

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Not Everything Is a Sonnet, Damn It

Posted on March 20, 2022 by JMN

“I get pretty impatient with people who consider any fourteen-line poem to be a sonnet. The turns of thought are crucial, as is the number of turns.” (Carl Phillips, interviewed by David Baker, http://www.kenyonreview.org) The interview inspiring these illustrations is … Continue reading →

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Cosmic Cheese

Posted on March 6, 2022 by JMN

The world / was whole because / it shattered. When it shattered, / then we knew what it was. “Formaggio” is Italian for “cheese.” The poem so titled is in Louise Glück’s book Vita Nova. On first reading I experienced … Continue reading →

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We’re Ourselves in Spite of Us

Posted on March 3, 2022 by JMN

Not the selves we ordered, but the ones received. So it went with those that got us — the trick of not caring for who you be is handed down. Each tiny burden of wiped snot is a pair of … Continue reading →

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Nosegay of ‘Droit de Seigneur’

Posted on February 25, 2022 by JMN

Consulting an Arabic dictionary involves looking up a word’s “root,” usually comprising three consonants. Words formed from the root are listed, with their translations, along with idioms in which the word occurs. What the root is may not be apparent … Continue reading →

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The Absolute Superlative

Posted on February 14, 2022 by JMN

Blachère (364) describes how Arabic expresses the “absolute superlative” — i.e., the uttermost degree of something, with no comparison: Par des noms au cas direct indéterminé de valeur adverbiale dont le sens primitif est paroxysme, degré suprême, rendus en franç. … Continue reading →

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