Category Archives: Anthology

My collected writings and those of family members.

Start at the Center

Posted on December 12, 2024 by JMN

Start at the center of the faceAnd work outwardsThe center’s where the features areWhat surrounds is just outline Start at the center of the centerAnd work out whatIs where the center startsWhat surrounds is more of that Stare at the … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged doggerel, drawing, language | 6 Comments

Poetry Isn’t nor Is. It Happens or Doesn’t.

Posted on December 10, 2024 by JMN

— For all the maimed and dead. Happens on a FujiHappens on a GalaHappens on a HoneycrispHappens on a Granny SmithHalving the appleQuartering the appleEighth-ing the apple(Can you say that?)Knife slides across skin’Til skin gives inApple tears at the blade … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged doggerel, language | 8 Comments

‘A Wall to Lean on & Get Your Fiend On’

Posted on November 30, 2024 by JMN

I’ve been reading old nursery rhymes I was exposed to in tinyhood by a teenaged aunt and twenty-year-old mother. They must have enthralled me as I lay me down to sleep in the pre-reason season; they still do. Why? Obscenely … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged language, poetry, reading | 2 Comments

‘I Aimed for English Renderings That Could Stand on Their Own’

Posted on November 27, 2024 by JMN

It’s a handsome volume* with gloriously voweled Arabic texts opposite English versions by James E. Montgomery, Sir Thomas Adams’s Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Trinity Hall. The poems are by, and attributed to, Abū … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged Arabic-English, language, poetry, translation | Leave a comment

The Philosopher Writes His Mind, Then Says, ‘Read It.’

Posted on November 18, 2024 by JMN

Persons who explain philosophy say “as it were” and “if you will” a lot. I’m none the wiser how it were, and no, I won’t. Persons who explain poetry don’t. God writes the universe, then says, “Read it. As it … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged grammar, language | Leave a comment

Thinking About Translation While Reading the Quran

Posted on November 13, 2024 by JMN

Nabokov and Borges differed over how translation should be done, the former favoring literalness (“The clumsiest literal translation is a thousand times more useful than the prettiest paraphrase”), the latter transformation (“Translation is… a more advanced stage of writing”). I … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged Arabic-English, grammar, language, Spanish-English, translation | 7 Comments

Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?

Posted on November 9, 2024 by JMN

“If all men are born free, how is it that women are born slaves?” (Mary Astell (1666-1731) The question of Adam’s and Eve’s navels has been discussed by theologians. It’s interesting, some have thought, for how it bears on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged drawing, language, painting, poetry, reading | 2 Comments

Infinite Scroll on the Scripture Front

Posted on October 22, 2024 by JMN

The cross-referencing contained in scripture reminds me of the infinite scrolling feature that afflicts social media. In the scriptures it doesn’t have pernicious intent, but can lead, nevertheless, to addictive chasing after the satisfaction of curiosity if one isn’t careful. … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged Arabic-English, grammar, language, Spanish-English, syntax, translation | Leave a comment

Song of My Selves

Posted on October 13, 2024 by JMN

Posted in Anthology | Tagged doggerel, grammar, language, rhetoric | 5 Comments

Ankle Bells Aquiver

Posted on October 9, 2024 by JMN

Economy and directness are said to be paramount traits of poetry. “Directness” does heavy lifting in that statement. The poem by Alafia Nicole Sessions titled “Immature Animals” (Poetry, October 2024) stumps, like something glimpsed that you can’t identify, but so … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged language, poetry, reading | Leave a comment