Tag Archives: France

Song of Apparent Innocence

Posted on August 9, 2026 by jillbpearlman

This late in the game, in our jade consciousness,there is still innocence.  It peels the leather back, it floods with exuberance the most open spaces watches the way an old port glimmersas do beaches, boardwalks, plazas  kids still thrill over the … Continue reading →

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Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Posted on July 26, 2026 by jillbpearlman

Coming from the US to France: out of the frying pan, into the fire.  Heat wave –canicule, in French – refers to dog days, which even Homer wrote about in The Iliad:  Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid skyOn summer … Continue reading →

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U-topias

Posted on January 18, 2026 by jillbpearlman

This past summer I wrote “U-topias” about an ill-fated, meandering voyage, a long poem for me but very short compared to wandering voyages like the Odyssey or the Hebrew Bible.  My search began with an irony – our town’s name said … Continue reading →

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The Blue Door in our Dreams

Posted on July 28, 2025 by jillbpearlman

There’s always a blue door in our dreams,in our former lives. A cerulean blue door, with wooden slats held by a small hook in the white plastered wall.   It opens, closes and opens, screeching like a sickowl, such are the vagaries … Continue reading →

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Cut Me Loose

Posted on August 18, 2019 by jillbpearlman

How freeing to discover the curious way French acquaintances and friends are judging the US.  Fortunately Trump is not sucking out all the oxygen.  While they despise him, they’re perplexed by this passing nightmare and don’t hold it against us.  … Continue reading →

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My Own Equators

Posted on July 31, 2016 by jillbpearlman

I like to travel south.  The further south in Europe I go, the more comfortable I feel.  I’m often following a pull, the  force of personal migration.  The compass point opens up more and more exhilaration.  It’s as if I’m … Continue reading →

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Nice Work if You Can Get It

Posted on September 7, 2015 by jillbpearlman

Workers work like dogs, and the tribute to work can only be marked by a temporary stay from what it celebrates. If you can’t stand your job, you certainly can’t imagine work as a realization of human potential, an aligning … Continue reading →

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WHAT WOULD BAUDELAIRE DO?

Posted on January 22, 2015 by jillbpearlman

I know, poets are said to have beautiful words but no practical action. Still, I began to wonder what Baudelaire, French poet par excellence, bad boy and scowling melancholic, would say about France and its current crisis of post-attack polarization. … Continue reading →

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