Author Archives: janishaag

(for my mother) Not that you were a gardener.You couldn’t keep half the plantsin the pots on your patio alive,forgetting to water them as you did. As a kid, I remember African violetsboldly purple in small planters onthe windowsill over … Continue reading →

(for the writers who come from all over the world to write with me online) How we chafed, stuck inside,reduced, we fumed, to communicatingonly with those in our living spaces and faces of others we were missinglocked in tiny rectangles … Continue reading →

(for Sue Lester) Though my best childhood buddy next doorgrew up with a rare, red, actual racing Ferrariprized by her father in their garage,I was nurtured to adulthood by a dadwho could tear apart a Chevy engineand put it back … Continue reading →

In response to the widespread web outages today,we encourage everyone to get outside and look at some birds.—National Audubon Society, 10/20/25 Why’re all those two-leggeds staring up at us?Have they lost their minds? Or have they lostthe little boxes they’re … Continue reading →

Malama ke kua’ana i ke kaikaina,ho’olohe ke kaikaina i ke kua’ana. The older sibling cares for the younger sibling,And the younger sibling listens to the older sibling. —Lāiana Kanoa-WongHawaiian Word of the Day, Hawaii News Now ••• Though, like all … Continue reading →

A tiny frogin the back yardpipes up daysafter rain has lefta puddle in the grass, hoarse, croaky,perhaps strugglingwith a… you know…in its wee throat, imitating, it seems to me,a persistent squeak of shoeor complaining floorboard— not unlike a human-sizedinflatable frog … Continue reading →

That remembers something old—Earth A word from what you are harvesting now—Gratitude One that a bird might say—Joy Give me a word that wants to be repeated—Kindness One that feels like an embrace—Hug Give me a word that feels likekindling … Continue reading →

For even during your final summers,the engine of your life literally working its little heart out,could not adequately heat your chilled self, did not warm your hands and feet,kept you swaddled in fleece and warm slippers on the most blazing … Continue reading →

There are few still alivewho remember my little girl hair,which I, of course, cannot recall. Except that my earliest memoriestug like the brush throughunruly ringlets that my mothertried to calm, if not tame. All these years later—after boutsof attempted straightening,even … Continue reading →

(for the participants of the recent Together We Heal retreat in Galt, California) Graceful: Softest light pink, gentlelips that whisper the name of one gone Fierce: darkish brown, these lipsmean business, speak their truth Sophisticated: pinkish with purpleundertones, svelte, out-on-the-town,va-va-voom … Continue reading →