Author Archives: janishaag

Great joy arm wrestles withgreat struggle, withgreat sorrow looking on, too, as the heart cracks, atthe same time a chuckleescapes. And in the divine pocketsbetween the fissuresof caught breath, as we watched her laborto leave the body thathad long garaged … Continue reading →

When someone says in hindsight,you know there’s going to comea list of woulda coulda shouldas, as if looking back over ametaphorical shoulder meansa critical review of a play that was still in previews,when the actors hadn’t foundtheir feet yet, could … Continue reading →

(adj.) exhaustedfrom Middle English “forswinke” (to overwork) and “forswink” (to exhaust) Dying is hard work,as anyone watching knows, but so’s the watching,the tending, the waiting, the all-encompassingall of it when you both wishthe ending date was marked on some cosmiccalendar … Continue reading →

Have pity on my lonely state,I am an orphan boy! How sad, an orphan boy! —Pirate King in “Pirates of Penzance,” Gilbert and Sullivan ••• He is an orphan boy now,Maxi cat, and, two daysafter Mom’s departure, I drive him … Continue reading →

(for Donna) Not waiting exactly,but keeping an eye out for the glimmer, the winkof light that says she’s still here in spirit, one weasked her for before she left. Like two days after herdeparture when I smoothed a clean towel … Continue reading →

Go on, take a piece of mine.Turns out, the heart regenerates even after we give a bit away,even when bits are taken. They’re not so much brokenas nipped at, though some chunks are larger, and heaven knows,we feel deep cracks … Continue reading →

Don’t be surprised if even on the darkest nighta new, holy light shines.—Steve Garnaas-Holmes, from “Leveling” Wholly light,entirely, comprising all,we find ourselves humbled by the dark,craving the sublimeglimmer that comes with every shy dawn,as we listen for eachbreath of one … Continue reading →

(in memory of MomJuly 6, 1931 – Dec. 21, 2024) Driving home at noon, coming downwhat was in our day a two-laneroad with a stop sign, I wascompelled to halt by a trio of lightson a tall standard leaning overthe … Continue reading →

What will survive of us is love.—Philip Larkin, from “An Arundel Tomb” Even if you feel that you didn’t get enough. Even if you feel that you didn’t get enoughfrom the people you thought should have. Even if you felt … Continue reading →

In Utquigvik, Alaska, the sun does not risefrom mid-November until late January. In Northern Norway the polar nighttakes over from November through the end of January, the sun lingeringa mere six degrees below the horizon. And at the north pole, … Continue reading →