Author Archives: jillbpearlman

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 →

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

Summer Bed

Posted on August 16, 2019 by jillbpearlman

The pine prepares a beddropping its needles long and thinas angel’s hair and smooth, each connectedto a partner, toasted like hay or ochreanticipating our autumnal bed though now we lay head to headwatching the summer stars

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

Refugees: The Tragedy of Frenemies

Posted on August 7, 2019 by jillbpearlman

I saw a discrete sign for a Memorial to Internment Camps at Rivesaltes, outside Perpignan, France, and finally decided to visit.  Lacking indication, you’d have to know or have a reason to take the plunge. You’d have to choose right … Continue reading →

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

Le Plus Ça Change…

Posted on August 2, 2019 by jillbpearlman

As the French take to the barricades to figure out what the country is about, one thing they don’t doubt is food. As Eric Delalande, a brilliant chef who traded Madison Avenue for Place des Marchés in Villèsque, a remote … Continue reading →

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

Blank Space: Bastille Day

Posted on July 14, 2019 by jillbpearlman

What’s not to love? The first lines of the French chalkboard – “Today we celebrate” have been carefully written once. The last line shows traces of previous fêtes, erased and written over. Today’s humble last line, dashed off, ignoring a … Continue reading →

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

Independence EveryDay

Posted on July 5, 2019 by jillbpearlman

Celebrations Morning wakes hours before its city creatures.I see light through the shutters:cool insides while their clapboards communicate color — hydrangea pink, hydrangea blue —to the morning.  Slate gray street, a herribone brick sidewalk.  Couples inside, coffee darker than their peignoirs.  It’s a holiday.The … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Poet who mistook a Sunflower for Eve

Posted on June 1, 2019 by jillbpearlman

As the poet must give up control of meaning to the reader, so the abstract painter must let go – rejoice! – in happy (mis)interpretations of her viewers.   After seeing Joan Mitchell’s large canvases (seen here in detail), I … Continue reading →

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

Genesis, Moonstone Beach

Posted on May 30, 2019 by jillbpearlman

Thanks, Crosswinds Poetry Journal, for publishing this poem in Volume IV !

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

What is Mother’s Day without the kids?

Posted on May 12, 2019 by jillbpearlman

Primavera, Senior Yearto Eve As the languorous calm of winter ends,enter gardeners, whirling bees–riotous breakawaySpring. And all the things I wanted to hold onto–a child’s hand, cool as an oboe;lamplight; readingby the window lying in bed with extra pillows,talking to … Continue reading →

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

Passover, Notre-Dame and the Book Thing

Posted on April 19, 2019 by jillbpearlman

The idea that Notre-Dame might be reduced to a hole in the ground, a collection of rubble terrified me.  When I lived in Paris, or before that, or after, the Cathedral lodged itself deeply in my being. A friend mentioned … Continue reading →

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