Author Archives: jaurquhart

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About jaurquhart

Jack Andrew Urquhart was born in the American South. Following undergraduate work at the University of Florida, Gainesville, he taught in Florida's public schools. He earned a Master of Arts degree in English, Creative Writing, from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he was the winner of the Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Award for Fiction (1991). His work has appeared online at Clapboard House Literary Journal, Crazyhorse Literary Journal, and Standards: The International Journal of Multicultural Studies. He is the author of So They Say, a collection of self-contained, inter-connected stories and the short story, They Say You Can Stop Yourself Breathing. Formerly a writing instructor at the University of Colorado’s Writing Program, Mr. Urquhart was, until 2010, a senior analyst for the Judicial Branch of California. He resides in Washington State.

Shelter

                ©2015 by Jack A. Urquhart (for Raymond) Purple thunder heralds the storm. At dusk, the rains begin. Outside my window a necklace of liquid pearls— strung from telephone line— captures the last iridescence … Continue reading

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Recollections

©2015 by Jack A. Urquhart (for Mom) Big blue Buick lies wrecked by the road—plate glass, framed steel fragile as October leaves— as fleeting as flesh and bone; Still a blue leather purse left behind at the scene calls back its … Continue reading

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Space (a prose poem)

©2015 by Jack A. Urquhart (for Dillon from Dad) I dreamt of us again last night: You, sullen and scowling, opting for deep space; Me, drawn to your furtive luster, wondering how, from where we began, we’d opened this gravity-bound … Continue reading

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Haiku for Dillon

Haiku for Dillon Lost two years ago today Alive in my heart Blue spruce ‘neath March snow Bends to heavy summer rains Too soon the bough breaks    

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Book Review: Kate Atkinson’s “Life After Life” and “A God in Ruins”

©2015 by Jack A. Urquhart   (Twitter @EvryManJac)         1580 words “When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls. What is to happen next will … Continue reading

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For All I Care, a prose poem

©2015 by Jack A. Urquhart                (For Dillon) In another dream You return to me, arms outstretched, a child again asking to be held. The weight of you against my quickening heart is like … Continue reading

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Tinnitus (a prose poem)

©2015 by Jack A. Urquhart Listen a moment and you will hear it, the universal jingle— electric, crepitating, omnipresent in your head. Barely a hearbeat’s respite before here it comes again— the tympanic soap opera; the static Plop, Plop, Fizz, … Continue reading

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Review: Fathers and Demons; Glimpses of the Future, by Lorinda J. Taylor: Telling tales of fathers, sons, demons and deities

©2015 by Jack A. Urquhart     1127 words Lorinda J. Taylor, the talented author of several engaging and imaginative works of literary science fiction, does an excellent job of telling her potential readers what to expect from her latest independently published … Continue reading

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Letter to the Editors of my Hometown Newspaper

©2015 by Jack Andrew Urquhart     425 words Editors: There is little chance the editors will publish this letter; nevertheless, I write one last time to express my dismay at the total absence of balance and objectivity on the Apopka Chief’s … Continue reading

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A Birthday Remembrance for my Son

©2015 by Jack A. Urquhart 700 words Today is my son’s birthday. Dillon Tyler Urquhart was born March 8, 1979, in Boulder, Colorado. Had he lived, he would’ve been 36 years old—more than old enough to be a father himself. … Continue reading

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