Tag Archives: language

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 →

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‘His Lesions Are Legion…’

Posted on October 5, 2024 by JMN

In a single poem Gwendolyn Brooks wraps up in a big bow the harrowing, goofy joy, the confused exultation salted with brow-knitting angst, that enters into raising yourself with children. “Life for my child is simple, and is good” is … Continue reading →

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From the NSFW Annals of Aesop

Posted on October 3, 2024 by JMN

For preservation of decorum in public speech, generations of writers have stood on the shoulders of people like Sir Richard Burton, 19th-century translator of the Arabian Nights. He fathered workarounds with which to buffer readers from Anglo Saxon four-letter words, … Continue reading →

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Zen Fire Alarm: The Sound of One Hand Slapping

Posted on October 1, 2024 by JMN

“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”  (Trump) (c) 2024 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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‘Digging Everywhere Until Things Gave’

Posted on September 29, 2024 by JMN

Adjacency can have a downside when it sparks comparison. “Praise Song for Annie Allen” by Angela Jackson is published alongside Gwendolyn Brooks’s “Memorial to Ed Bland” in Poetry, September 2024. The juxtaposition drives home for me how brightly Brooks shines … Continue reading →

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I Want to Be a Man Who Disdains Platitudes…

Posted on September 26, 2024 by JMN

a man who… … tells it like it is.… heard it from the horse’s mouth.… saw it coming. … sees the forest for the trees.— measures twice, cuts once.… wasn’t born yesterday. … trusts his gut.… takes the bull by … Continue reading →

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Morning Fruit

Posted on September 23, 2024 by JMN

When I write, I say words in my mind. I’m pretty sure I can type words as fast as I can think them. Sometimes it seems I’ve typed them even faster than that! I wash and slice an organic Ambrosia … Continue reading →

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I Made This Object. Call It a Sign.

Posted on September 20, 2024 by JMN

I made this object as a courtesy to visitors looking for my door.  Direct your steps this-a-way in order to accomplish your purpose, it implies.  All it actually says is “Entrance” — I didn’t have room for much more, but … Continue reading →

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Quran 3:78 —> Vance

Posted on September 17, 2024 by JMN

Like the King James Bible for Judaism and Christianity, the Holy Quran is for Islam a monument to luminous language in a spiritual setting. As a student of Arabic I study Quranic texts to strengthen my grasp of the language … Continue reading →

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Modernism in Amateur Painting

Posted on September 15, 2024 by JMN

It’s a tricky business this amateurism. Progress consists in putting a non-realistic spin on scenes and objects. Ideally, the subject should be rigorously interrogated, stripped to its essences, warped or scuffed up past anodyne mimesis. Seen, not depicted. Stamped with … Continue reading →

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