Author Archives: janishaag

(for Deb) As the first daffodilpops up its brave yellow headon the second-to-last day of January, the sign in her yard that she plantedthe first time still proclaims: • Black lives matter• Women’s rights are human rights• No human is … Continue reading →

(for Donna) Second from the left wall,separated from my sister’s by a sink,hers always so much tidier than mine. Lately, in emptying those drawers,she has pulled out the snarl of yarn bitsand hair ribbons and released them into their hereafter, … Continue reading →

We have the best conversations now that she’s dead. She’s become a much better listener. I talk to her when I am alone in her housesorting through her things. I try not to say,“Why do you have so many…?” Because … Continue reading →

Hey, Ma, you know who else diedthe same day as you? You’re gonna love this:Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, the woman incarcerated as a child at Manzanarduring World War II, the one who later wrote“Farewell to Manzanar,” her memoir that you gaveme … Continue reading →

The ones who stand there in ungodly weather—the rain, the sleet, the snow of postal delivery folk, yes, but also amid the godawful heat and fumes of all manner of heavy machinery spitting dirt and gravel and sand and Lord … Continue reading →

If we could write one for her,we might reach for a bouncybeat, a major chord progression, though in a slightly sultry tone,because hers is the key signatureof joy. We could say that we have gathered to listen, to putour hands … Continue reading →

Can’t get enough I love yous,sincerely delivered from oneswe adore, especially fromchildren or spouses,dear friends, or the pawand maybe a lick froma favorite four-footed one. Thanks is always nice, too,and an I’m sorry from onewho had a thoughtless momentdoes wonders. … Continue reading →

After a few more hours pulling bookstopped with miniature dust bunnies offher shelves and stuffing garbage bags full ofdecades-old papersmagazinearticlesjournalsand lugging them to the driveway to heft intomy trunk a couple hours after sunset, I realize thatthey are too hefty. … Continue reading →

Whaddya mean, you didn’t know you were looking?Of course, you’ve been looking. All your life you’vebeen looking. It’s in freepin’ neon, for heaven’s sake.Or someone’s sake. Maybe yours. How should I know what it means? Angels don’tknow everything. It’s your … Continue reading →

The holy disaster is a beckoning. Come.Enter the fire of love and let it remake youagain and again. —Mirabai Starr I’m not looking for the sacred,the holy, but it finds me unaware,which is why, later, it occurs to me that … Continue reading →