Author Archives: janishaag

(On the road circling Hanalei Bay, Kauai) Saw a guy on the sideof the road, waxing hisstick, right out in public. They do that here.“Sexwax,” Dick said,as we drove by, sounding like thefamous surfer whobears the same name, though Dick … Continue reading →

(Eucalyptus deglupta) •••For Dick••• Of course, it would be rainbowon these islands where rainbowsabound, vertical bands of peeling barkstripped away, down to the essenceof eucalyptus, visible from your hospital windowafter the collapse, the vanishing,the reappearing. We watched the tree; I … Continue reading →

Frankly, it makes it hardto concentrate on the taskat hand, so to speak, sittingon the throne, looking intoa mirror on the inside ofa pink Frigidaire roughlythe same age as me. But I love it. Somehow I failed to appreciatepink as … Continue reading →

Flippering into the sea,bounced around by wavesmore than I like, alwaysa beginner every time I hit salt water, foggingthe mask, trying to clearthe snorkel, liquidreminders that I am a visitor in this world.When I finally feel myshoulders relax andfin gently, … Continue reading →

They really exist, especially the nightbefore full, raining down lightas if it’s noon, the palm tree shadow on the lawnso distinct the camera picks it up,renders it faux day, though it’s not yet 2 a.m., cloudsshrouding the moon, so it’s … Continue reading →

at the beginning of a new day,the sky murky with a curtainof cloud the color of mourning dovescooing the morning intobeing, I can look mauka, behind me,to the mountains, morningmisted, hear birds peep and squawkand chortle the day intobeing. But … Continue reading →

The canvas of twilight skyripens into a supreme backdropfor the show-offy sun shooting searchlight beamsthrough clouds hoveringjust above the horizon, sending angular streaksof bright orange the colorof fresh lava to create an ephemeral sky show.The photographer and Ihave long called … Continue reading →

(Thanksgiving Day, Poipu Beach, Kauai) At the beach park the touristsgather near sunset, not to gawk atthe ball of fire descending into the sea but at the bale of turtles who havetrudged their way up the beach, leavingtracks the size … Continue reading →

(In memory of Ed Kato, artist of Kalaupapa,on this day of thanksgiving) There, on a peninsula of great suffering,nearly a hundred years after thousands were banished to die, an artist pickedup his paintbrush again and again to record in oils … Continue reading →

(South shore Kauai, looking due south) I rise a bit before 4 a.m. on an errandof the night, surf sounds pulling meto the lanai to see what I might see, and there, while we’ve been sleeping,the all-night star show spreads … Continue reading →