Author Archives: janishaag

for Dick, on his fourth “rebirth-a-versary” The universe keeps dying and being reborn,physicists say. It doesn’t stay the same;it’s ever expanding, as Einstein theorized—exponential expansion, which meansthat as much as we want things to remainthe same, a rock solid cosmologicalconstant, … Continue reading →

East Lawn Cemetery, Sacramento In between stormsI take my walk to find,not far inside the open iron gate,the first uprooted tree, its undersidetypically hidden underground,the lacy petticoat and fine bonesunearthed, nakedly exposedunder a hazy blue sky Another of the fallen, … Continue reading →

for Pat Schneider You never Zoomed a poetry reading,I’m sure, certainly not of the journalyou founded forty years before anyoneimagined speaking at a computer screen.You held proper readings at the JonesLibrary or the Munson, requiringin-person attendance of readersand listeners. They … Continue reading →

And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been.—Rainer Maria Rilke Things that have never been: This new year stretching long before us,bright and unshadowed.This breath, … Continue reading →

for Helen Plenert The artist posts a photo ofher paint-speckled hands afterreloading her acrylic paint palette, and I enlarge it to look at the colors,which I cannot accurately name—periwinkle, bright blue, mustardthat looks as if it could be risingon dancing … Continue reading →

to remind you that you, who livesamid such abundance, who hasso much of what others do not, are just as reliant on the basics—good food, clean water, electricity—as everyone else, that your privilege can, indeed, leave youin the dark for … Continue reading →

After the big bad bug got uson vacation, after a canceled flighthome and a long drive up the centerline of our state, in this season of rainand wind, watching the wideningpond consume the backyard, afterelectricity vanished days ago thanksto a … Continue reading →

for Dickie Aren’t we all? I hear him say,and I protest, No! It’s one of the great benefitsof living within shouting distanceof three hospitals—no matterthe storm, power’s never out for long. But last night, shortly before anew day, as the … Continue reading →

Put your chin in the little dipand look into the bowl of stars,tiny suns that blink and disappear, then press with an eager fingerthe button to indicate that somepart of your peripheral vision has noted them. But immediatelyyou wonder, Did … Continue reading →

Out the back door windowI see part of Mary’s murallit up, a soft midday spotlighton words she painted a coupleof years ago: I awoke with your voice and because……small green fans on slender……gold and fluttered to the ground……their little lives… … Continue reading →