Poet and literary critic Jean-Luc Pouliquen lives in the south of France where he was born. His poetry is strongly influenced by René Guy Cadou and the poets of the Rochefort School. His critical work has focused mainly on the poetics of Gaston Bachelard. Three of his books have been translated into English : Robert Louis Stevenson at Hyères, Transatlantic Conversation (co-authored with Beth Gersh-Nešić) and Aydan Before Moonlight. To be published in 2026 : Séquence Long Island, co-written with Ann Cefola and with a foreword by Rosanna Warren.
In addition to poems in journals and anthologies, Linda Simone’s publications include The River Will Save Us (Kelsay Books) and two chapbooks, Archeology and Cow Tippers. Since moving to San Antonio from New York, her work was selected for the city’s Tricentennial and for the San Antonio Poet Laureate’s signature project. In 2026, she was commissioned by The McNay Art Museum to write an ekphrastic poem for National Poetry Month.
Search
Search
the child’s face
or the corded lines of age
Since the moment
our misshapen fingers
scrape the ground
what do we unearth?
Search
beyond the untruths
of shadowy graves
in the complaints of the masses
and foliage that sings
Is brotherly dawn
so far away
freedom won
from the surging chaos?
Chercher
sur le visage d’un enfant
ou dans les rides de l’âge
Depuis le temps
que nous râpons la terre
de nos doigts contrefaits
qu’avons-nous exhumé?
Chercher
au-delà du mensonge
de l’ombre des charniers
dans la complainte des peuples
et la musique des feuillages
Est-elle si loin
l’aurore fraternelle
la liberté gagnée
au chaos déferlant ?
***
-Tr. Linda Simone
***
Living
This way of
eluding the net
to extract from
the currents of the soul
luminous splinters of happiness
This way
of leaning one’s gaze
on heavenly terraces
So that the hands
the eyes
sparkle without sound.
-Tr. Linda Simone
Être au Monde
Cette façon
de filer le chalut
dans les courants de l’âme
d’en extraire
les éclats du bonheur
Cette façon
d’accouder son regard
aux terrasses du ciel
De sorte
que les mains
les yeux
étincellent sans bruit.
***
To be there
To be there
in the thick of the world
with open hands
and a wakened heart
To be there
with no other desire
than the source
with no other purpose
than love.
-Tr. Linda Simone
Être là
dans l’épaisseur du monde
les mains ouvertes
le coeur en éveil
Être là
sans autre désir
que la source
sans autre dessein
que l’amour.
***
