Me self is always crawling
out the window
Author Archives: Janna Urschel
Nosey
He sniffs; I sniff. Just enjoying our full corporeality. Only he is so much better at it than I am. While I’m like, “ah… the smell of fresh grass…” he’s like “nice male puppy who just got neutered; dominant middle-aged female; old cranky male whose kidneys are giving out (wait, that’s me!); rabbit!”
Dear Representative
We are in imminent danger of losing everything the Revolutionary War sought to accomplish 250 years ago. We the People have no interest in being governed by a monarchy, a tyranny, or an oligarchy. Generations have fought and died for the sake of this republic.
On Keeping Children Alive
I fancied myself a decent mother of infants and toddlers; I jived with the tenderness, the clear boundary-setting, the byways of unshackled imagination. But, like, I imagine, most parents, I waited a little in apprehension of the “dreaded teenage years.”
On Solar Power
Everything lives by the light. It sounds like a religious statement. Maybe it is mine. My mother sometimes jokes that she is part plant because her personal rhythms are so affected by light cycles. It’s a truth we deny to our peril.
Teaser from my new novel!
Fleeing from the invaders who killed her father, 13-year-old Rowan must pass as both a harper and a boy to keep her family safe. Enrolled at the prestigious Master Herrins’ all-boys’ school for harpers, Rowan faces challenges in keeping her own identity secret while also being recruited for a spy ring passing messages through their music to aid the Resistance as the conquering force destroys the land and her people.
Quieting the Machine
There is no stillness. I know this. It would be cold and dark if there were. But for me there is no need to add to the commotion unnecessarily. Thoughts are busy enough without surplus din, and it is hard for them to uncurl healthily without making space for them.
Matins
When I come to wake
There is a bird there
Already
A Walk in the Park
I awoke today to find
There are birds.
The Breakers
Standing on the breakers
in the spray
it can seem
Like the rock is winning
Life in the Multiverse 