Tag Archives: poetry

‘No path to heaven / except through this dirt’

Posted on September 16, 2021 by JMN

My title is from the poem by Philip Metres, “Never Describe the Sky as Azure,” in Poetry, September 2021. A Reservation Over the Fist Resisting the repressive Texas governocracy is of the essence. Are fisting poses ginned up for camera … Continue reading →

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“I’m Trying to Overwhelm the Museum,” He Said

Posted on September 12, 2021 by JMN

[Adam] Pendleton, 37, is best known as a painter of abstract canvases in a distinctive black-and-white style that challenge how we read language. Made using spray-paint, brush and silk-screen processes, they incorporate photocopied text, words unmoored from context, letters scrambled … Continue reading →

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Travesía (16) Final

Posted on August 1, 2021 by JMN

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN [Translator’s note: This is the last segment of part nine, and the end of Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” and my Spanish version … Continue reading →

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Travesía (15)

Posted on July 28, 2021 by JMN

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN [Translator’s note: This is the third segment of the ninth and last part of “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” One segment remains.](9)Appearances, now or henceforth, … Continue reading →

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Write Infrequently, If Possible?

Posted on July 2, 2021 by JMN

… Unlike many great twentieth-century writers, who saw truth in despair, Milosz’s experiences convinced him that poetry must not darken the world but illuminate it: “Poems should be written rarely and reluctantly, / under unbearable duress and only with the … Continue reading →

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Travesía (14)

Posted on June 30, 2021 by JMN

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN [Translator’s note: This is the second segment of the ninth and last part of “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” Two segments remain.](9)Sound out, voices of … Continue reading →

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Slant-Wise Talk

Posted on June 25, 2021 by JMN

Saying things that are graspably cockeyed is my kind of self-expression. Doing so skirts peekaboo obscurity and affectation constantly, but sometimes it feels like it’s working and those moments make me feel interesting. “Even your most serious problem,” [Stephen Dunn] … Continue reading →

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Robert Hollander: Scholar-Translator

Posted on June 19, 2021 by JMN

Robert Hollander, Princeton Dante scholar and translator, died in April, 2021. The translation of “The Divine Comedy” which he produced in close collaboration with wife Jean Hollander (d. 2019), herself a poet, is said to be among the “smoothest” and … Continue reading →

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Travesía (13)

Posted on June 18, 2021 by JMN

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN [Translator’s note: This is the 9th and last part of “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” I will put it up in 4 sections.] (9) Section … Continue reading →

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‘Lamento de mujer — En la muerte de un poeta’

Posted on June 6, 2021 by JMN

[Translator’s note: The blog of Andrés Cifuentes, Eco Social… Ojo Crítico, led me to this tender sonnet by Francisco Álvarez Hidalgo. To my naive ear the cadence of iambic pentameter has an affinity with Señor Álvarez’s hendecasyllables. I apologize for … Continue reading →

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