Category Archives: Uncategorized

Wedding Miracles

Posted on May 18, 2026 by jillbpearlman

What I loved — besides the volumesof taffeta on the Korean mother’s dress,  And the fleshy glow of the slightlyolder bride, And the plodding priest with hisfifty mentions of Christ,  And the guests, as various as petals on all the bouquets, With … Continue reading →

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Diaspora of Affections

Posted on May 11, 2026 by jillbpearlman

Since nothing is ever complete, the poetry book I wrote about my mother, Diaspora of Things, seems like a light-sensitive print of where I was a few years ago.  The relationship keeps evolving.  The deeper I get into motherhood – all these years … Continue reading →

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Spleen-y Ode to Spring

Posted on May 3, 2026 by jillbpearlman

Imagine wasting spring days jaundiced, brooding, noting how magnolia petals from tree nuptials became fulsome brown slurry, mucilaginous, underfoot slippery  And all Americans, scout-like, ready at any moment, have cars built to transport a casket—their neighbor, the sudden hearse of their president And when … Continue reading →

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Healing according to our Sages, the Grass

Posted on April 19, 2026 by jillbpearlman

My rebbe was quoting his rebbewho was quoting the Grass: Grass: The vitality pushing through usis stupendous. The green appearsfrom monochrome, from the shadeinto a shadeless shameless glow.Every blade is singing from the forceof its lit universe. Psychedelic!  No trade-offs, no … Continue reading →

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Good Friday according to Delacroix

Posted on April 3, 2026 by jillbpearlman

Delacroix liked to paint on SundaysA dabbling Sunday painter he was not He never shied from dramaHe was overwrought His Mary is the crossHis Christ an afterthought

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March: A Sooty Skin

Posted on March 22, 2026 by jillbpearlman

The pristine snow,abandoned, sinks— a sooty skin. Broken objectsrise up.  An arm,stairs, cardboardboxes shockedby fetid air My head pushes from the mud, the primordial churn, seething,thick with saltyactivity.  Shit or fish sauce? Call it March. 

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Uber Drivers at AWP

Posted on March 9, 2026 by jillbpearlman

Updating Descartes: I travel so I can talk to strangers.  Updating Descartes again: I travel so I can reality-check the words of writers against the wisdom of Uber drivers.  Using that as a measure, AWP was stupendous! No wonder we pay drivers … Continue reading →

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Mr. Universe

Posted on February 23, 2026 by jillbpearlman

It’s an all-white affair, the blizzard sweeps in with style, its blinding white tux,bow tie and stiff starched shirt, its grandeur, its threats and proclamations,its show of power. In a flick of itshandsome wrist, it shows us who’s who. How … Continue reading →

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The Olympic Curse: Something Rotten in the State of …

Posted on February 15, 2026 by jillbpearlman

There is something rotten in the state of Denmark.  Which is the self-evident reason why American Olympians keep blowing their races.  The magnificent gods of snow and ice, Americans about to be anointed in their draped flag, have gotten tangled in their … Continue reading →

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UltraViolet Night

Posted on February 2, 2026 by jillbpearlman

I awaken to pee, pass the windowin its wide-eyed state: too bright.Could be a spotlight that beams new films, except this skytracker doesn’t rove. The light is steady, ultraviolet.  The dead tree, tumbling shrubs, picket fence – all caught in the trembleof their … Continue reading →

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