Track NameArtist Name

00:00 / 01:04

Fuck Facebook

I had to save myself for what remains of my life Facebook is close to connection, but not connection like a shitty lover who keeps...

J L Birch

Jul 161 min read

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Home: Blog2

Home: Subscribe

Contact

Home: Contact

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.

Let’s Connect

Home: About