Category Archives: Anthology

My collected writings and those of family members.

How Do Poems Be Interesting?

Posted on February 4, 2022 by JMN

A YouTube personality named Isla Rose candidly discusses her male-to-female transition experience, both the affective and the clinical sides. She remarks how the related hormone therapies can diminish responsiveness in intercourse; she must be “very interested” in what’s going on … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

What ‘Self’ Goes With Royal ‘We’ and Singular ‘They’?

Posted on January 29, 2022 by JMN

I take it on report that an English monarch is entitled to declare self-referentially, We are not amused. I amuse myself speculating whether the Queen would say We amuse ourself or We amuse ourselves at whist. In a different context, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pronoun Rebellion (3)

Posted on January 27, 2022 by JMN

A man’s word is his bond. It’s an aphorism. States a pithy truth, along the lines of, “When someone makes a promise, he keeps it.” This one floats a model of behavior, an ideal. Not a command, exactly, but it … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Pronoun Rebellion (2)

Posted on January 24, 2022 by JMN

(Continued from https://ethicaldative.com/2022/01/22/pronoun-rebellion-1/) Wallace Stevens said of his poem “On an Old Horn” that, if he had succeeded in saying what he had to say, the reader would get it. “He may not get it at once, but, if he … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Pronoun Rebellion (1)

Posted on January 22, 2022 by JMN

It’s apparent that contributors to Poetry magazine compose their own biographical snapshots, which allows for a gamut of voicings and modes of self-assertion. A grammar nerd notices how these established and establishing technicians of the word mold language to their … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Confounding Clarity

Posted on January 16, 2022 by JMN

Proliferation of phrases: — A turn of speech makes my point vividly — I’ll use it. But this other phrase is pungent — I’ll use it too. Yet another is incisive; and one is innovative; and one wry; this one … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Minefield of Rabbit Holes

Posted on January 9, 2022 by JMN

In my Arabic grammar I encounter the preposition fiy- illustrated in a “relationship of comparison” (rapport de comparaison). Blachere’s jouissance is matA( from root m-t-( meaning “to carry away” and, in derived forms, “to enjoy.” Its usages meander through enjoyment, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Rewarded With Provocations

Posted on January 8, 2022 by JMN

It helps me read contemporary poetry to conjure the mindset of an athlete in the elite sport of pole vaulting. The bar sits there at a distanced height. I summon latency, coil with icy focus, charge the standards, launch myself … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

‘The Past Stretched Before Us’

Posted on January 2, 2022 by JMN

I encountered the following expression in my Arabic reference grammar: May you be ransomed by my soul! Arabic can be sublimely terse and florid in the same breath. Blachere’s example shows optative use of the perfect tense instancing how the … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Struggle to Lose Control

Posted on January 1, 2022 by JMN

To All a Good New Year! Audrey Petty describes her first one-on-one conference with her poetry teacher Agha Shahid Ali at the University of Massachusetts. After she read her draft to him, he reviewed it and said, “What if you … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment