Outside, glass-blue sky and air-sucking heat, avocado arms reached up from saguaros with spiked, crimson-tipped ocotillo neighbors. Cooly lush, the inside of The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum aviary held the exotic odor of moisture-feeding plants. Gambel quail congregated next to an artificial stream, as did two benches. My mother and I sat, hands tentatively touching, soaking in our quiet, as darting demons of color zipped by, an astonishingly red cardinal couldn’t hide, and all around were the sad voices of mourning doves. I loved her in those minutes she was away from him, the thief who stole her self.
Julia Clebsch writes creative nonfiction memoir/essays and brief memoirs connecting place, family, and nature. The lesbian writer has published in Legacy and Five Minutes, and is a WOW finalist. Julie will be reading with Five Minutes and Molecule at the Salem Literary Festival in Massachusetts in September.