Tag Archives: language

Brice Marden Believed Looking at Paintings Could Be Transporting

Posted on January 28, 2024 by JMN

Again and again, he showed that art from any time or culture was contemporary and alive, if it offered artists something they could use. (Roberta Smith) Brice Marden died in August 2023, aged 84. The illustration that concludes Roberta Smith’s … Continue reading →

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Notes on Process

Posted on January 25, 2024 by JMN

When I indite a scrap of doggerelI launch five iambs on a fancy verb. So. Post launch, it’s a fight to go all pinche. Listen to the warm; daub raunch on the prissy; cut the crap into the shape of … Continue reading →

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Old Plantocracy and Retrofuturism

Posted on January 23, 2024 by JMN

In this telling, art is a global and porous affair. And far-flung provinces serve as entrepôts to and from the vanguard — not just detours to be “represented” like Nashville hot chicken in the flavor portfolio of Pringles. (Walker Mimms) … Continue reading →

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Message in a Bubble

Posted on December 21, 2023 by JMN

Hola, H. He aquí todo un poema de un tal Ben Okri que sale en la revista Poetry de diciembre 2023. SEGOVIAI walked your acueducts at dawn.With giant legs they bestrode the landscapeOf the Moors. Stick insects. Like RomansOn stilts. … Continue reading →

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‘Our Lady of the Westside” by Antonio López

Posted on December 15, 2023 by JMN

“When Davis’s poems are poetry, they are powerful.” (Langston Hughes, on Frank Marshall Davis) I’ve no basis for discerning what’s verse and what’s poetry other than whether it jostles a personal needle. I compare a poetry moment (loosely) to another … Continue reading →

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There’s So Much to Be Said for Saying Less

Posted on December 8, 2023 by JMN

Quoth the raven, “Never mind.” (pace Poe) Afterword I’m copious and so are you. (From Cowpunk by Diane Seuss in Poetry, December 2023) (c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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A Defense of Women Via Sarcastic Tirade Meaning the Opposite of What It Purports to Affirm

Posted on December 2, 2023 by JMN

[Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice ironic bloviation. The message buried in a made-up rant full of ludicrous rhetoric (posted previously) is that the assertion “It never happened,” or that an encounter was “consensual,” implies … Continue reading →

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‘Truth’ Is Straight-Up Naked, Dude

Posted on November 25, 2023 by JMN

“You have said the actual truth.” (Musk) (Michelle Goldberg, “Why on Earth Are Jewish Leaders Praising Elon Musk?” New York Times, 11-20-23) UNSTABLE GENIUSES, THEY GO AND COMEThe dude bogarts a joint and jinxes X,hocks the truth with loogies of … Continue reading →

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‘Cuando Me Vaya’ by Javier Sánchez

Posted on November 20, 2023 by JMN

The Spanish text I translate to English here is from Las palabras de Javier (November 16, 2023). In reading poetry of the day I brace for being left in the lurch, for being denied more than a cerebral engagement, at … Continue reading →

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Please, Your Majesty. Say, ‘We Are Not Amused’

Posted on November 14, 2023 by JMN

… A consummation devoutly to be wished.”(Shakespeare) Evangelical euphemisms like “Grab ‘em by the prissy” and “Kiss my aft” have hopped from bully rally to pulpit rave in American discourse thanks to the God lobby. But, Britannia, oh dear! “Fuckpigs,” … Continue reading →

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