Tag Archives: language

Toyin Ojih Odutola Draws Loud

Posted on May 25, 2025 by JMN

I like how Toyin Ojih Odutola assembles faces from facets, a treatment I strive increasingly, if feebly, to approximate. I describe it to myself in personal shorthand as “envisaging”: implementing visage as a sort of ‘scape rather than anatomical likeness … Continue reading →

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‘O Brute May I Come In, O Brute You May’

Posted on May 23, 2025 by JMN

My treatment of Mitchell Glazier’s “The Gazing Ball” (Poetry, May 2025) wasn’t fit for purpose because it came across as testy and dismissive. I’m not equipped nor disposed to be a poetry critic, only a consumer with thoughts. And my … Continue reading →

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Queenly Swans Are Nudging Eternity Figs

Posted on May 22, 2025 by JMN

What the hell is going on in “The Gazing Ball”?  I had to lock horns with Mitchell Glazier’s poem (Poetry, May 2025) and break it down robustly in order to reach a fragile accommodation. I’ve come to expect having to … Continue reading →

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The Future Walks on Baby Feet

Posted on May 16, 2025 by JMN

Here’s my English reading of “Contar Cuentos” (Telling Stories), a poem written in Spanish by Azurea20 published at LA BANCARROTA DEL CIRCO on April 27, 2025. TELLING STORIESMy memory invents you,strips you nakedtells itself stories,closes your eyes,obliterates your mouth,discovers verbs … Continue reading →

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Reading ‘Reading Ulysses in Montana’ in Texas

Posted on May 15, 2025 by JMN

Delving Yardbarker is the nom de guerre of the creator of “Reading Ulysses in Montana.” As with Luvgood Carp, it gives me pleasure each time I say “Delving Yardbarker.” Sonorous, compressed, quirky, inventive, mischievous, literate, subversive, diverting, intriguing, outrageous, prolific, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Good Illustrator With a Modest Streak

Posted on May 14, 2025 by JMN

… Mr. Moore remained steadfast in avoiding lofty posturing as a fine artist. “If someone wants a picture of a horse to illustrate their new range of lasagna,” he said in the Agency Partners interview, “then I follow the brief … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

‘Machismo’ Cuts the Cheese Over Yonder

Posted on May 13, 2025 by JMN

Fun fact: In Great Britain they pronounce it mah-KIZ-mo. On the shores of the Gulf of Mexico America Mar-a-Lago we say mah-CHEESE-mo. (c) 2025 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 2 Comments

You Shall Not Crucify Mankind on a Cross of… Crypto

Posted on May 11, 2025 by JMN

With apologies to William Jennings Bryan, it’s called a “rug pull”: A celebrity touts a new digital coin, prices soar and then insiders who own most of the coins pull the rug: They sell their stakes for a big profit … Continue reading →

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Which of These Dialogs Features a So-and-So?

Posted on May 3, 2025 by JMN

Dramatis Personae: Niamh, a lass. Oisín, a lad. Niamh: Have you had supper?Oisín: So I ate before leaving the house. Oisín: What was Waterloo?Niamh: So Wellington defeated Napoleon there. Niamh: How many capitals has Mongolia?Oisín: So I’m aware of only … Continue reading →

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The Dervish Is in the Detail

Posted on April 30, 2025 by JMN

Bret Stephens, conservative columnist for the New York Times, Jew raised in Mexico, fluent Spanish speaker, quotes (from memory) a poem called “God’s Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins at the end of The Conversation with Gail Collins.  In my reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , | 13 Comments