Author Archives: janishaag

each of you has written upon my body the story of moments shared, in tenderness,in urgency, tracing lines across my skin,dropped kisses here and there and there— so long ago that my memory cannot easilysummon it—but love stored in too-soon-to-melt … Continue reading →

Today I’m featuring a special guest poet who found this poem coming to her in much the same way that they show up for me. Bravo, Ma! ••• “Propitious,” a wordseldom used these days,or, perhaps,any days,popped up inconversation, and,prompted the … Continue reading →

I just burst out laughingat myself when texts blastthe camera-that-makes-phone- calls out of its inert state,forcing my aging brain to puzzleout current-day acronyms. The one that read TIA startledme into a fast response:Did you have a stroke? to which the … Continue reading →

(for the late, great Brian Hamlin, who bestowed the nickname,and for Linda, Jim and others who remember it) I might be the only woman in the worldwho loves her hair just as it (mostly) is,originally showing up curly and blonde,grownups … Continue reading →

It’s in freeping neon, my friend,and if that’s not a literal sign,I don’t know what is. I don’t care how old you are,how odd looking or soundingyou think you are: Someone you don’t yet knowis gonna love schlubby old youbecause—and … Continue reading →

You had to be careful when Grandmacame at you for a hug. She was whatwe called an enthusiastic hugger,which was lovely in its way, but, depending on her choice of jewelrythat day, you could end up with animprint in your … Continue reading →

Forgive me, Father,for I have committedthe (I hope) pardonablesin of not only payingfor a car wash, but not using my own two goodhands to wash Mother’scar, which I am usinga day a week to drive her places, but which I … Continue reading →

(for Henry) What set of miracles had to occurto set you in a backpack on yourthe back of your grandma, who ismy sister, we two who came throughyour great-grandma—our mama whosheltered us womb mates? And then your grandma made yourmama, … Continue reading →

Thank you, and yes, a splash of simileand two full teaspoons of metaphor,stirred with fresh images and not a little rhythm to bouncethe lines merrily along, so smoothlythat a reader finds herself effortlessly pulled along with everybit of nuance, not … Continue reading →

Leafless now, they arc and curve,swoop like stilled birds in midflight,statues of gnarly grace that have stood on this rise for generationsof men, cattle, birds, deer, creaturesof the earth. I come to walk hills freshly greeningafter the dry months, new … Continue reading →