Author Archives: janishaag

Against the panorama of cloud-free sky,resident geese honk on their afternoon commute, a singular scavenger angel wheeling on the updraft, scanning for a meal.In the distance I think I hear insects chatteringlike so many voices trying to speak at once, … Continue reading →

for Dawn Orosco, kindergarten teacher extraordinaire I don’ wanna.—You have to, Janis. You can’t go to kindergarten without knowing how to tie your shoes. I don’ wanna.—Look, it’s not that hard. See? You just make a little loop.(Fumbling)—Well, more of … Continue reading →

They give you cookie dough as a bonus at pizzaplaces nowadays, chocolate chips and dough lumped into a little plastic tub you take homeand spoon onto cookie sheets you haven’t used in ages, following the instructions on the label(375 degrees, … Continue reading →

Make sure to live each day in such a waythat if you were to fall off a hundred-foot cliffand your life flashed before your eyes,you don’t die of boredombut from the hard landing. —Brother Weepsthesacredbraid.com Well, that’s the thing, isn’t … Continue reading →

I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am.I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing—a noun.I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process—an integral function of the universe. —R. … Continue reading →

for Lucie As aware as I am ofthe Is-ness—the all that Isthat fills me, the trees, the wingédand the footed, the dirt and detritus,everything—Lucie says that all energy,all spirit embodied in the universe,is aware of me, too. That this feeling … Continue reading →

Tucked under my bedwearing the fuchsia spreadfrom Sears lived in the biggestsquare box I could find in the garagecollection, not too tall but deepenough to hold treasures I carriedindoors that grownups thoughtshould be left outdoors. Bits of metal that, when … Continue reading →

(Jan. 30, 2023) My half birthday this yearfalls on a Mom Monday,so I spend the afternoon drivingaround the one who long agocoached me through the stickybusiness of clutches and shifting,who carried and birthed me64-and-a-half years ago, whopassed on her love … Continue reading →

for Amy Roark Amy must have a gig soon,I think on a Sunday morningas the second-story strains floatfrom her apartment intomy closed windows, which I open in the bathroom,preparing for my shower,partly to let the steam escapebut mostly to hear … Continue reading →

for Lois Mae Haag DietzJan. 29, 1923–Sept. 26, 2006 If she were still here—or we made it to her musicalheaven—wouldn’t she be atthe piano, fingers movingsmoothly over her ownhappy birthday? All of us singing alongin that celestial space—her parents who … Continue reading →