Author Archives: janishaag

(from humilis—Latin for low, of the earth) I retrieve the thick blue foam padand toss it in the empty bucketalong with a sturdy trowel, my favoritepair of clippers and the digger—a three-pronged fork perfect forraking small patches of stubborn dirt. … Continue reading →

Part 2 On an overcast Wednesday I walkthe front yard, casting like a fly fishermanlooking for the best spot. I eyeballpossibilities after yesterday’s wanderthrough a nursery, guessing how manyplants I need based on what survivedthe drenching winter—as always,driving home with … Continue reading →

Part 1 Moist, dark soil, ready for new life to begin.—Tina Davidson We live for this all winter, the first trip tothe nursery to see the babies, to coochie-coounder their tiny leaves, to fondle theirtoo-heavy heads, so hard to hold … Continue reading →

for Georgann Hey. That vine that climbed the trellisin your Aunt Betty’s backyard, the onewith miniature pink buds that poppedout like teeny nipples each spring, the one you said smelled like a Frenchwhorehouse—what was that again?Because it’s climbing over my … Continue reading →

noun: one who wanders in the night I still awaken some nightshearing the click click clickingof his nails down the hall,his tags jingling his arrival, feel him making his way tothe big round bed on the floor,softened by his aging … Continue reading →

I’m delighted to report that I’ve been writing and posting daily poems for six months now (since Nov. 1, 2022), and it’s truly become a nourishing daily practice. The words and images show up fairly easily most days, and, when … Continue reading →

For two weeks the plantsoverwintering on the front porchhave waved at me each timeI come or go, their gentle signalthat it’s time to move back to the back, to the deck under the big sycamorefor far more fresh air and … Continue reading →

Walking the labyrinth,clocking its distance becausesomeone asked, on the way in I come upon a smalloblong black bug headingthe same way I am, and I pause, bend tolook closely, its littlelegs chugging it from shade into sun everso slowly, taking … Continue reading →

Make sure you’re not too prolific. You could be taking words and punctuation away from someone more needy.—Duchess Goldblatt on Twitter, April 21, 2023 Because, after all, there are onlyso many words to go around—and there, in only two lines, … Continue reading →

(or Why I love exercising with Shelley) Because the music, magically channeledfrom her phone to the small turquoise speaker, is so good, gets us moving, and herdelightfully peppy self makes moving fun (to paraphrase Fleetwood Mac), and shecan’t help but … Continue reading →