Tag Archives: language

WHAT’S WITH THIS NAME? (Memo from the Oval)

Posted on October 7, 2026 by JMN

Who named it “Artificial” intelligence anyway? Loser branding.The moniker doesn’t pussy-grab the bigness of the thing.As a name it’s underpowered. Cuckish. Smacks of low T.Make intelligence great again, for the love of Pete! MIGA! Mega. Ultra. Hyper. Uber intelligence with … Continue reading →

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The Wondering

Posted on October 4, 2026 by JMN

If I could unmakeWhat I was made to make:(from “Poem,” by Edwin Muir, Poetry, January 1937) Sometimes the psychic pain over spilt milkBurns like a bitch and a pair of bastards.In that moment when it drills you hard,Like your gizzard … Continue reading →

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Calico Girl

Posted on September 29, 2026 by JMN

She didn’t want me to show you her jawline because my clumsy hand had lent it a possum-like delineation which we agreed was unflattering. Old calico’s not what she used to be.Humps distances on three arthritic legs —Lost the left … Continue reading →

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I’m in a Platonic Relationship with God

Posted on September 26, 2026 by JMN

True Believer:— The one true god exhorts his servants to exalt the one true god.Me:— How is exaltation carried out? Is it a speech act? As in, “I exalt you, lord.”True Believer:— Could be.Me:— Who can know whether I speak … Continue reading →

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I Have Me a Cat

Posted on September 21, 2026 by JMN

Name of Midnight. He’s a smoldering coal,Cat afire. Icicles of burnt siennaPrickle his inkiness. Cheeky usurperOf this enterprise which is myselfHas a preternatural luster to him.Wish I’d named him Buckminster or Trajan.I’m only half serious when I sayDude has the … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Thinking About Modern Verse

Posted on September 16, 2026 by JMN

I will have such revenges on you both that all the world shall—I will do such things what they are, yet I know not. (Shakespeare, King Lear) I think of much modern verse as language exhibiting unwonted, thus potentially interesting, … Continue reading →

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Colossus of Lapsus

Posted on September 14, 2026 by JMN

A defining word for a moment captures the moment in a captivating way.Think of something legendarily large, say, the Colossus of Rhodes,Wonder-of-the-world-level specimen of attentional dimension,Commensurate with, say, a full-on breakdown in the cereal aisleOf the supermarket of nations. Colossus. … Continue reading →

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I Have Me a Sister

Posted on September 11, 2026 by JMN

I have me a sister whose every reportIs she’s fit as a fiddle and couldn’t be better.Her world is the best of all possible places,No matter she could be as mad as a hatter. There’s nary an ache or in … Continue reading →

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Sung Now

Posted on September 6, 2026 by JMN

Harriet Tennessee AlexanderDid not suffer an overripe deaconTo go unremarked from where she stood.My great grandmother, duly churched herself,Would slyly christen the immoderate soulA constipated Baptist. Landing hardOn self-righteous in her considered viewCould overplay the sanctimony card.The railroad bisecting her … Continue reading →

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Battle Hymn of the Besotted

Posted on September 5, 2026 by JMN

We know that God loves. But did you know that God also hates?(Franklin Graham) Frankly, reverend, you’re a broken cracker,Besotted bottom-of-the-barrel divine,Breath blown into a mud pie by your maker,Reared on sodawater and moonshine. Word cloud from a cherrypicked psalterHovers … Continue reading →

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