Author Archives: janishaag

Doesn’t have to be much,just a few lines, I often tell people tryingto write one. Or in the words of a poetI greatly admire, It doesn’t have to be good—it just has to be true. So we set down the … Continue reading →

As Jupiter reaches opposition—when the giant of this solar systemlies between our blue marble and the sun— I will look up at nightfall and trackits progress across the winter sky,closer than ever to Earth, bright as a star. And should … Continue reading →

It’s been decades since I lustedafter a particular pool. My sister and I,young synchronized swimmers, fell hard for the Neptune poolon our first visit to Hearst Castle,and dreamed of doing ballet legs in that aqua water surroundedby a pseudo-Greek temple. … Continue reading →

(at the Ocotillo Lodge, Palm Springs, California) Here, they negotiate the wicked thornsto perch in earth-toned camouflage on the spears arrowing out of the groundat the corner of our building. One moment I catch the zip of a tinywinged being, … Continue reading →

Indian Canyons, Palm Springs, California ••• The shaggy elders in this oasisbring to mind winterized buffaloon the Great Plains, their snow-coatedhides bulked up against the cold. But, more appropriately in this warmclimate, the dead fronds featheringtheir lower regions look to … Continue reading →

They used to say about informing onsomeone, about ratting someone out,the ten-cent piece being the costto make a call on a pay phone. Only now, only here, in this tram stationon a craggy mountain, it’s two quarters,which puzzles the young … Continue reading →

less than 100 feet northfrom the center of the walkwayleading to the art museumto a nearby grove of palms where her white skirtfamously flares high overthe heads of thousandswho come to see her in a desert town wherepeople have for … Continue reading →

Back in the pool shaped likea champagne cork at the beginning of a new yearin a place that’s usually summer-like in winter, though this year cooland rainy, the old souse of a desert imbibing the liquid candy, doingits best to … Continue reading →

(in memory of Captain Robert J. Schweitzer, U.S. Navy pilot, who served from 1950–1974) I did something today I haven’t done in years:I stood, as requested by a speaker at an event,and recited the pledge of allegiance (trying to remember … Continue reading →

(Palm Springs, California) Descending the steps into the big hot poolat the mid-mod condo in the winter-chilly desert, I remember the baptism of these healing waterstwo years ago, entering fevered and shivering, only to have all symptoms of the Big … Continue reading →