Author Archives: janishaag

(Iris douglasiana)•••(for all the Dougs) Now that we know their name,we can address them properly aswe walk by the fan-shaped flowers on the bluff-top trail: Hiya, Doug,which calls to mind so manyDougs we have known— the college newspaper editorwho, decades … Continue reading →

(Pieris marginalis) The small white winged thingwhose name I did not yet knowwas the third insect I relocatedtoday from inside to out. The first an oblong black bugcrawling on the tan tile,easy to see, step on, but,as is my habit, … Continue reading →

I start the day in my hometowncircling a labyrinth as eight seekerswind around its twists and turnsas the sun climbs and warms us. I end the day by the sea at lowtide, so low that rocks I’ve rarelyseen here lollygag … Continue reading →

noun:1. The condition or quality of being complete or whole. ••• On my knees on the soft garden mat,bare hands telescoping into cold earth—because it’s spring, allegedly— I think about the total solar eclipse thatI will not see, far as … Continue reading →

After a couple dayswith April showers,springshine is backin Northern CA, his email says withthree sweet photosof the pink dogwoodhe sees when he stepsout his front door— one showing the newsprites at a distance,sprouting from the treethat struts its stuffthis time … Continue reading →

Spring is the cruelest timeto die, I used to think—just as winter rolls up itsgray quilt and lifts off, as the skeletons of treeshold the hope of green,some even budding intoearly pink laughterunder warm sun. The departed miss all this—the … Continue reading →

Oh, how they swirl on the surfaceof your tea, the dervishes dancing, whirling, to the tuneof your spoon swirling. And, if you angle your headnear the rim, just so, you might hear a poemaborning in that moment as your dervishes … Continue reading →

(for Mom) Though she sits now to sing,she’s up there sparkling with her Sweet Adeline buddies,six decades as a baritone— one of the more difficultparts in barbershop. And though she will nottravel this year to compete with her chorus, she … Continue reading →

The one perfect stemwith its waggingpurple tonguesflirts as I walk by: Hi, there.Aren’t I lovely? And I stop, say,You so are,seized by the desireto possess, howevermomentarily, suchbeauty, wanting to pluck herfrom her birthplace,take her with me.But to do so woulddoom … Continue reading →

I was, with many others spaced apart six feet or more, standing in line outside a Trader Joe’s, waiting to go in for groceries (no toilet paper or tissue, of course), marveling at the consistency of flowers blooming their fool … Continue reading →