Tag Archives: reading

‘The Man Who Discovered Uranus’ by David Kirby

Posted on August 31, 2026 by JMN

What you say doesn’t have to be true. / It only has to be imaginable. (David Kirby, from his poem “Not the Almost-Right Word”) In my pronunciation, from boyhood until fairly recently, the planet Uranus rhymed with “your anus.” Now … Continue reading →

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

On ‘Difficulty’

Posted on August 30, 2026 by JMN

This comment by Victoria Moul has jostled my world: It is very difficult indeed to write lyric poetry which is both beautiful and straightforward to understand, and which also has something to say — a clear and specific message or … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Suddenly I Understand

Posted on August 8, 2026 by JMN

Her eyes are bleary with sleeplessness. She “watches over” stars all night as if she were a shepherd and they her flock. She hardly bothers to dress herself other than in tatters. Arabian poet Al-Khansā’ (d. 645 AD) starts to … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Positively Cry

Posted on August 3, 2026 by JMN

No matter where life takes me,I carry this love. I carry my part. This ending to Aaiún Nin’s long-ish discursive poem “McDonald’s Money” made me cry. Not from sadness, but because it crowns a fine writing with the keen point … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

‘There dwells in the glance an ancient hunger…’

Posted on July 10, 2026 by JMN

Translation to English of a poem in Spanish titled “Únicas/Únicos” by Azurea20 published at La Bancarrota del Circo on July 6, 2026. ONE / ONLYThere dwells in the glancean ancient hunger;a buzzing ofbees crownscogitationas one’s own lighttries to take rootin … Continue reading →

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

Sadness on the Wing: A Celebration

Posted on June 24, 2026 by JMN

Diction front-loaded with shopworn sparkle (destiny adamantine jade infinite sunset horizon blossom heart gaze…) can reek of prefabricated verse, whereas speech treading on the heels of the quotidian can light your pants on fire. I ask myself what’s up with … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Purulence, Pus, Matter? Anointed or Kohl’d?

Posted on June 11, 2026 by JMN

I was sleepless, and I passed the night keeping vigil, as if my eyes had been anointed with pus, […] That’s Arberry’s reliable translation of line 1 of the sixth-century elegy on the death of her brother Sakhr by the … Continue reading →

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

Rae Armantrout Appeals to My Inner Toddler

Posted on May 21, 2026 by JMN

I want to say Rae Armantrout springs a cavalcade of huggable schwas on me, but rumpled or purple or bubbly would describe them, too. As long as they’re duple bumpy words. Joints grind likeshot brakes. Food ignitesin our stomachs. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

‘The Things That You’re Liable to Read in the Bible…’

Posted on December 2, 2025 by JMN

“… They ain’t necessarily so,” goes the song in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. “If we could stop coming at the Bible postured as though we’re the ones that own it… to prop up, whether it’s theologies, whatever makes us comfortable, … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

‘Something Endlessly Inspiring and Strange’

Posted on November 29, 2025 by JMN

While Shakespeare’s plays must have stemmed from some personal experience, they take the “thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to” and, through an act of artistic creation, fashion them into something endlessly inspiring and strange. (Drew Lichtenberg) Inspiring and … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment