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Departure
She’d asked for me. My mother was in palliative care outside of Toronto after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer - liver, lungs,...
J L Birch
Feb 179 min read
9 views
1 comment
2025
noble sandcastle safe from the surf he kicks it down because he can
J L Birch
Feb 171 min read
5 views
0 comments
Final Stretch of Childhood
Midnight, sitting at the kitchen table, the only light in the house, hanging above us. My son, nearly 19, complains about cancel culture,...
J L Birch
Oct 22, 20242 min read
11 views
0 comments
Rush Hour
Early morning, The Castro, 1986. I live on a hill, across from California Pacific Medical Center, trees cover gray windowed walls. A...
J L Birch
Jul 30, 20241 min read
10 views
0 comments
Fear of Water
As we waded in the deep end, my father would pretend to drop me, smiled when I squealed, my small arms gripping his neck. He rowed the...
J L Birch
Jul 30, 20241 min read
8 views
0 comments
Vallarta
Two weeks I hardly remember, though I’ve only been home three days. The grocer’s name who made us fresh pico de gallo – holding out...
J L Birch
May 25, 20241 min read
51 views
0 comments
Helpless
Walking the path along the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon, I notice a dark shape on the path ahead, a bird pecking at it, I hope it’s...
J L Birch
Jan 11, 20241 min read
56 views
0 comments
Falling Away
Now that our son has left home with his Jordans, his blonde girlfriend, the grey folding couch - after I’ve cleared the basement of...
J L Birch
Nov 8, 20231 min read
72 views
1 comment
2002
I did not see my son’s birth, I missed it by 2 hours. He was born in another state, we traveled 8 hours to say hello. He wore a diaper...
J L Birch
Oct 8, 20231 min read
15 views
0 comments
Befriending an Alcoholic
Getting sober is like climbing a mountain - a daily choice, one step at a time, over and over - until weeks become months, months, years....
J L Birch
Oct 8, 20231 min read
21 views
0 comments
I Wanted to be a Boy
I wanted to be a boy like God or Joe Namath, Batman or John Denver – not like Craig who pushed me facedown and shoved snow in my shirt. I...
J L Birch
Oct 8, 20232 min read
14 views
0 comments
Saturday Afternoon
She had to attend another Inner Light conference, something about struggling to find paradise. We worked all afternoon to surprise her:...
J L Birch
Oct 8, 20231 min read
11 views
0 comments
Acting Teacher
He said the stage is like a high wire performance. He said actors need to understand the stakes before they climb up there. He said just...
J L Birch
Oct 8, 20231 min read
6 views
0 comments
Mr. Finnigan
The tiger looks upon my orange boy cat, striped and dirty, and wonders how he landed in such fortune. LET ME ASK YOU, HOW DID YOU GET...
J L Birch
Oct 8, 20231 min read
3 views
0 comments
Follower
Tired of my snotty nose, my mother put me in school too young. I followed the girls to and from the school yard, knew when to leave for...
J L Birch
Jul 15, 20231 min read
46 views
0 comments
On Golden Pond
Check out the moment when Jane Fonda tells her dying father, that she thinks he doesn’t like her, she’s lonely, always has been. A cold...
J L Birch
May 4, 20231 min read
48 views
0 comments
Whatever it Takes
My brother dragged around his loathing like a bag of rocks — riding buses all over the city to avoid being home, joining sports teams –...
J L Birch
Dec 20, 20221 min read
70 views
0 comments
Women's Music Festival - 1995
I was sure I knew Ferron, having traversed her emotional interior album after album. I knew each breath, supposed every heartache...
J L Birch
Oct 28, 20221 min read
61 views
0 comments
Constellation Cygnus
I found out from a psychic after my mother died that she was an alien from another galaxy – a Tadpole, Blackeye, or Cartwheel galaxy –...
J L Birch
Sep 18, 20222 min read
79 views
0 comments
Patti and Me and Calgary
We both bought Yamaha guitars in high school, played Neil Young songs - I held the melody as Patti harmonized. I had loved her since...
J L Birch
Apr 7, 20222 min read
74 views
0 comments
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About Author
J L Birch grew up in Canada and emigrated to the U.S. in 1984. She began writing poetry while attending the University of California, Santa Cruz in the 1990s. She has been a selected reader for In Celebration of the Muse and Poet/Speak in Santa Cruz County and has been published in the Porter Gulch Review. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her partner and their son.
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