Tag Archives: grief management

Tune My Heart

For Dillon: On the occasion of what would’ve been his 44th Birthday by Jack A. Urquhart, Copyright 2023 Occasionally, two or three times a year,I tune my heart to the memory of your faceto the sound of your voice, to … Continue reading

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Seattle, February 2011 (for Dillon, 03.08.1979 — 08.02.2013)

How was I to know then—in the shadow of that red lacquered library, in that misting rain? How was I to know as you sprinted Spring Street that you would never come back to me again— not the onery, flesh … Continue reading

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Dillon by Proxy (in the Coffee Shop) prose poem by @EvryManJac

For my son, Dillon (March 8, 1979–August 2, 2013) ©2020 by Jack A. Urquhart  Yesterday in a coffee shop, in an incidence of unabashed affection, I saw a man lean to plant a kiss atop his preteen son’s head. The … Continue reading

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Two Poems, @EvryManJac: There is a Bell; Little Wonder

            There is a Bell ©2018 by Jack A. Urquhart (for Dillon) There is a bell pendulous and rusting heavy in the tower of my still-beating heart Amidst the calmest hour I can hear its … Continue reading

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I Haven’t Forgotten, prose poem by @evrymanJac

                    Copyright 2017 by Jack A. Urquhart In case you’re wondering, I haven’t forgotten, ‘though it is many years. I haven’t forgotten the way you came howling into the world, red … Continue reading

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Residue: a prose poem, @EvryManJac

©2016 by Jack A. Urquhart (for D.T.U.) He wears loss ‘round his neck— scintilla of ashes, bone, dust— a steely, encapsulating talisman, storied against his heart. His fingers oil the patina to a shade of smoky-gray. This grief is a … Continue reading

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Mixed Metaphors (prose poem)

              ©2016 by Jack A. Urquhart For Dillon 03.08.1979—08.02.2013 They say being alive is a concatenation of scenes, the sum of which equals a singular human performance. So it is no surprise that since … Continue reading

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Say ‘Cheese’! A Birthday Letter to my Son

©2016 by Jack A. Urquhart (Dillon Tyler Urquhart 03.08.1979—08.02.2013) Dear Dillon, Today, with your birthday coming on, I tried from old photographs to summon some smile-making memories, a few happy commemoratives from all those “say ‘cheese’!” moments. But it seems … Continue reading

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Afterwords: Reflections on losing a child to mental illness and drugs

©2016 by Jack A. Urquhart   1600 words I do not know if I should be attempting this again—don’t know if it’s wise or useful to attempt honesty, especially in prose, on a matter so profoundly life-altering as the death of … Continue reading

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Not on Your Life: a prose poem

©2016 by Jack A. Urquhart               We said our farewells in Seattle; You, heading off to the library in a misting rain, I, preoccupied with transit arrangements, flight delays. But I remember the smoky … Continue reading

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