Tag Archives: style

Why Do Poets Ampersand?

Posted on July 12, 2020 by JMN

The poem is “Sacrament I” by Robin Gow (Poetry, March 2020). Excerpt, first stanza: & all the faucets pour oil or milk.We fill father’s bottles, the brown and green;thick glass blood cells, a throat-slit pouring silk.When will the baptisms make … Continue reading →

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What Does a Poem Teach? Fluidity

Posted on July 8, 2020 by JMN

Excerpts are from the poem “A Future History” by Suzi L. Garcia (Poetry, March 2020). A muster of peacocks show off their tails, but instead of feathers, knives. This line introduces me to “muster,” a collective noun applied to peacocks. … Continue reading →

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Manifestoid 1 of 2

Posted on June 25, 2020 by JMN

A correspondent writes: Watched the lunchtime news, it veers between positivity and warnings that leaves the head spinning and the heart pumping. In that last sentence, should it be ‘leave’ or ‘leaves’. I had ‘leaves’ because it is the veering … Continue reading →

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Alert the Media

Posted on June 22, 2020 by JMN

A TikTok celebrity hailing from Gen Z complains of being confused with millenials. “Just because you’re so old you can’t remember the difference, doesn’t mean it’s OK to lump us altogether,” she said. (Poppy Noor, “So Gen Z-ers hate millennials … Continue reading →

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Nigerian English

Posted on June 20, 2020 by JMN

Lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary have updated the dictionary with 29 Nigerian words, recognizing Nigeria’s “unique and distinctive contribution to English as a global language.” The former British colony’s 200 million people speak more than 250 languages, according to … Continue reading →

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The Opposite of Death

Posted on June 15, 2020 by JMN

The sweetest, life-affirming eruption of ebullience I’ve encountered today comes from Jon Stewart. The subject is his learning to play drums in middle age. [Interviewer] Do you make sure to practice your rudiments and paradiddles? I have a teacher, and … Continue reading →

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Bret Stephens Loses His Own Argument

Posted on June 12, 2020 by JMN

The NYTimes published, then repudiated, an Op-Ed piece by a Republican senator urging deployment of active-duty troops to quell looting and rioting that intruded upon mostly peaceful protests. Bret Stephens disagrees with the politician’s incitement, but says it was proper … Continue reading →

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The Dome and the Well

Posted on June 6, 2020 by JMN

Umm Kulthum died in 1975. I had a passing acquaintance with the singing of this venerated Egyptian artist, but knew nothing of her life. I learn from this article by Tom Faber that Umm Kulthum’s singing was admired by western … Continue reading →

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Dust-Up in ‘Bama

Posted on June 5, 2020 by JMN

Life in these United States leads to comfort where you can find it: In this case, the theory by police that this is an isolated killing and not a spree killing. Seven adults were found shot dead last night, June … Continue reading →

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They Says It

Posted on May 31, 2020 by JMN

the tru-est words they says is that there are no per se true words for it for ev-‘ry thing has a no-thing if a sin-gle per-son ut-ter it they is the ip-so fac-to ut-ter-er of it if a sin-gle per-son … Continue reading →

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