Author Archives: janishaag

The Sea Ranch, Sonoma coast, California We set off for our just-before-sunsetwalk with coats and hats and cameras,the kind that live now on our phones, but it is not until we are almostat the trail that I rememberI have forgotten … Continue reading →

Please pay no attention tothat nutty man behind the curtainin the land south of yourson this continent we share. If I could, I would send up anold-fashioned red biplanetowing a huge, ribbony sign,saying, Canada, We Love You! You have been … Continue reading →

(at The Sea Ranch—for Lauren Just Gieland other mamas-to-be) Standing on the blufflooking down at the beach,we sigh with recognition, admiration and a little envyat the fourteen snoozingharbor seals sprawled like sausages on the sand.We are out for a walk,checking … Continue reading →

(for Clifford Ernest PollandMay 21, 1952–March 18-19, 2001) I stand atop a rock at Shell Beach,looking out to a sea far calmerthan yesterday’s stormy onebut still alive with vigorouswaves exploding onto seastacks,sending spray forty feet abovethe surge. No longer do … Continue reading →

When the tide swirled in,I found my wellies overtoppedby the chill of saltwater,as hundreds of tiny becalmedsails swirled around my calves. I did not leap toward shore,but stood and watched themcaught in a vortex not of theirmaking, these small doomedcreatures … Continue reading →

Leo horoscope for Sunday:Introspective feelings could drive you to probethe inner recesses of your mind today. 🌖 🌖 🌖 I ask Dr. Google: How many people in the worldare born under the sign of Leo? (Like me.) Dr. Google’s AI … Continue reading →

“You can’t save everything,”my sister said as we went room by roomthrough the house of our mother,who pretty much did. Though hers was more of a case ofnot-getting-rid-of, of stuffing more stuffinto an already full drawer or cupboard,which turned the … Continue reading →

After missing the eclipse the night before,I drive home in the blazing incandescence of a full moon on high beam, power lightingthe sky so that when I step out of the car to try to capture its radiance, I land … Continue reading →

We put pair after pair of her shoes intogreat garbage bags, some for donation, somebound for the Place Where Old Shoes go, but some I could not quite bear to release—the dyed-to-match pink linen pumpsthat accompanied the fuchsia sheath with … Continue reading →

through your just-written poem as you read it to your writing group is to pronounce a few words as best you can, gulping, gasping in your shakiest voice,then pause, take a deep inhale, then read a few more. Repeat. Read, … Continue reading →