Henri Cole's Paris Diary

Henri Cole (CRF 2009) has been writing a series of essays and journal entries, titled The Street of the Iron Po(e)t, for the New Yorker's Page-Turner blog.  In this week's entry, Part V: Thomas Jefferson in Nîmes; the Maison Carrée; the Nazi occupation; and the nightjar, a bird that inspired lines by Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath.  And a great ending line:

I decided that three hundred and forty euros was too much to pay for a taxidermied bird that is a death omen and is sometimes associated with insomnia and madness.

You can read the piece here.