Author Archives: janishaag

(for Sue Lester, BFF birthday gal) I cleaned off my desktop for you.Not my actual desktop, though thereare two of those in my office. The one I am sitting at is overfullwith all manner of stuff—three skinny tubes of lip … Continue reading →

(for Deb, my riverside walking buddy) Though the river has shrunk toa slender fall ribbon,exposing a narrow bandin the center of the channelpopulated with trees going aboutthe business of shedding, we walk the sandy traillooking for the telltale splashof sea … Continue reading →

The night before I never sawmost of my students again—only some of their framed facesvia a newfangled form of onlinecommunication— I watched a massive synchronizedcloud, thousands of starlingszooming as a collective wholeover a fall-harvested field, looking eastover the stubble into … Continue reading →

A woman, filled with the gladness of living,put the purse of her body on the tableand began to unpack it. “I have no need of this,” she said to no onein particular, though the fluffy black catwatched her, as he … Continue reading →

(for Dickie) I drive toward you under playfulfluffy clouds doing the sidestrokethrough rain-washed blue, thinking about the little ginkgoin my front yard that years ago wason its way to being a proper tree when someone accidentally broke it,and it became … Continue reading →

The poetry inside youis a chaliceand it is golden. —”Chalice” by Kathryn Hohlwein,May 18, 1930 – Nov. 18, 2024 ••• I sat in the poetry center waiting toread a few of your poems on the eveof the anniversary of your … Continue reading →

says the message on the screen,by clicking here, checking the box,identifying all the stoplights, because only we bipedal oneswith big brains can do so.What of the whales with their outsized hearts thesize of a Volkswagen bug,or our ape relatives who, … Continue reading →

The next generation lives there now,their motion cam picking up all manner of wildlife in the backyard, the onethat used to be our backyard when my sister and I were growing up.My nephew and his wife show us photos of … Continue reading →

He heard it at least weekly from bosseslooking for something striking to anchor A1 or a section header: Get us a weatherpicture. And the photographers would sigh as they headed out of the office,into the world, to fulfill the always … Continue reading →

Your maroon nails accent the new blue penas it scoots across the pages of a petite notebook, one each for you and yourclassmates brought by two visiting writing ladies who have set you allto making lists of possibilities. You do … Continue reading →