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Richard Jones is the author of numerous poetry collections, including The Blessing, which received the Society of Midland Authors Award for poetry, The Correct Spelling & Exact Meaning, and Stranger on Earth (Copper Canyon Press, 2018). He has also published Thunder on the Mountain, a nonfiction work exploring the relationship between poetry and painting. Jones is professor of English at DePaul University in Chicago.

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French Composition

by Richard Jones
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I am late. A thousand pardons.
I wondered what had become of you.
I stopped at a barber’s to be shaved and buy a cake of soap.
Let us sit down here at this table on the terrace.
Good. There is no wind and we will be very comfortable.
Waiter, a tea for my friend and a coffee for me.

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  • Literal translation of a practice piece of dialogue from a French...
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