Author Archives: janishaag

It occurs to you that all those timesyou got dumped by someone you adoredmay have been the work of the unseen onesprotecting you from future heartache. From the handsome one who liked to followevery new flower that came across his … Continue reading →

My third grade teacher said it so oftenthat her roomful of 1960s peace-and-love8-year-olds automatically chimed inas the first words fell from her lips: There’s no need to be mean. All these decades later I like to thinkthat my former classmates … Continue reading →

There you go again,flagging me down,forcing me to slow my roll because, as usual, I am going too fast,missing something placed in my path,trying to get my attention. I do not know why I was born withtwo speeds — go … Continue reading →

(June 20, 2025, at 7:42 p.m., Pacific Time) Suddenly, there’s so much outsideto do, now that the last of fallleaves that didn’t come down till January have been blownor yanked from under the lantanaprofuse with orangey-red pom-poms like miniature citrus.And … Continue reading →

But here we aretogether in this space I used to think of as mine,but now I think of as ours because you’re hereand she is not. It’s as if someone said,Do not wish for any other life. This is the … Continue reading →

(For Sue Reynolds who walks through the worldwith these words inked on her wrists, and in memoryof our mentor and friend Pat Schneider.) ••• Spacious as in plenty of space,as in having great capacitylike your great heart, which seems to … Continue reading →

It’s the old-fashioned hand signal for “stop”or “slow down” that gets me, fingers hanging loosely, elbow turned up, lower arm browned fromfrequent out-the-window airings. And I— piloting my mother’s car that I used todrive her on Momdays—think, “Father.” On a … Continue reading →

Unlock the curlicuesdeep in the brainwhere stories hide, where lines of poetrylurk, waiting forthe just-right key— a voice, a touch,the trill of bird orthe warmth of a sunny summerday—to release wordsthat gush through the gates of synapses,rush down the riverof … Continue reading →

(for Sue Reynolds) Neither of us could name it—but one of us from eastern Canadawas not likely to know it, since this herbaceous perennial thrivesin warmer climates like mine, though,like me, is not hardy enough for northeastern winters. But,walking by … Continue reading →

How rivers and stones are foreverin allegiance with gravitywhile we ourselves dream of rising.—Mary Oliver If I must pledge,let me do so while standing,not with hand over heart, but outside amid the greening,gawking again at the show-offhollyhocks rising like full-skirted … Continue reading →