Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

‘The Man Who Discovered Uranus’ by David Kirby

Posted on August 31, 2026 by JMN

What you say doesn’t have to be true. / It only has to be imaginable. (David Kirby, from his poem “Not the Almost-Right Word”) In my pronunciation, from boyhood until fairly recently, the planet Uranus rhymed with “your anus.” Now … Continue reading →

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On ‘Difficulty’

Posted on August 30, 2026 by JMN

This comment by Victoria Moul has jostled my world: It is very difficult indeed to write lyric poetry which is both beautiful and straightforward to understand, and which also has something to say — a clear and specific message or … Continue reading →

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Confession

Posted on August 5, 2026 by JMN

I confess to a proclivity (morbid?) for depicting faces in various states of contortion. A face at rest, unless it’s grizzled or reflective of a corrupt soul, has bland contours. States of agitation are what lay bare the deserts, mountains … Continue reading →

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future

Posted on August 1, 2026 by JMN

On June 24, 2026, the academic summit on the topic of “Extreme Heat” scheduled to be held in London, England at the London School of Economics Shore Library was canceled due to extreme heat. (c) 2026 JMN — EthicalDative. All … Continue reading →

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The Guitars and Drums Do Most of the Talking

Posted on July 26, 2026 by JMN

Since I fancy myself poetry curious, I’m ashamed that the lyrics of most rock songs constitute for me so little of the listening experience. I rarely register more than the odd phrase that penetrates the instrumental layer. The frontpersons (I … Continue reading →

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Paul Thek, Practitioner of ‘Crude Figuration’

Posted on July 16, 2026 by JMN

Although Thek possessed impressive skills as a draftsman and painter, he was an early practitioner of the crude figuration of “bad painting” (a term coined by Marcia Tucker, the founder of the New Museum). I don’t know how seriously to … Continue reading →

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Blood and Dirt

Posted on June 26, 2026 by JMN

Dagger. The Bible has the story of a fellow who fashioned himself a dagger, fetched it hidden into the chambers of an unsuspecting portly man, and plunged it into the man’s belly so deep that it disappeared, unextractable. The King … Continue reading →

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In Times of Tribal

Posted on June 17, 2026 by JMN

— If you ain’t white, we ain’t open.(Dixie whistle.) “Voter fraud” is not about fraud. It is about who votes and how. It is about the breadth and scope of the political community… about who can call themselves Americans — … Continue reading →

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Purulence, Pus, Matter? Anointed or Kohl’d?

Posted on June 11, 2026 by JMN

I was sleepless, and I passed the night keeping vigil, as if my eyes had been anointed with pus, […] That’s Arberry’s reliable translation of line 1 of the sixth-century elegy on the death of her brother Sakhr by the … Continue reading →

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Hail to Thee, Mouse-Like Bird! Wren nor Tit Thou Never Wert!

Posted on May 25, 2026 by JMN

Adam goofed. The bird called wrentit (Chamaea fasciata) is neither a wren nor a tit. A wrentit… is a secretive, sedentary, mouse-like bird endemic to North America, primarily found in western coastal regions of the U.S. and Baja California. It’s … Continue reading →

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