midlife changes curled-up
forties are fiddlehead ferns
it doesn’t look like much
until it becomes unfurled
and once we get it open
things may break apart —
eventually nests unwind
but will we bear fortitude
to turn that new life into
something just as beautiful
and yet even more free
spiraling towards fifty?
—Terri Guillemets
trapped in a bottle
thrown out to sea
trapped in a bottle
my wishes are three
trapped in a bottle
that’s drunken me
trapped in a bottle
emotions stormy
trapped in a bottle
flashing brightly
—Terri Guillemets
Owls are hunters
Humans are mechanical separators —
separating by metal machines
meat from bones
life from death
fat from essence —
but in Nature, where Man used to come from
a long time ago — remember it? —
none of those things is separable.
BRAIN from SENSE
—Terri Guillemets
tortoise clouds
barely crawling across the sky
hare clouds
drifting swiftly over our heads
chameleon clouds
changing every moment
borrowing colors from the sun
dragon clouds
breathing fire into the horizon
—Terri Guillemets
Fortune is a centaur —
half man, half luck.
—Terri Guillemets
for want of wings
we have been earthbound
but hearts and dreams soar
—Terri Guillemets
scrambled blackout poetry created from Rafe Martin, Birdwing, 2005,
It’s not that the people
with nice shiny attitudes
have not been banged up—
but they buff out their
dings and scratches with
gratitude and positivity
perspective and grace
resilience and courage
with purpose and faith.
—Terri Guillemets
Grief bores holes
in our hearts & heads
like a woodpecker
— peck peck peck
— knock knock knock
You can’t make it stop
Eventually it flies away
— but leaves pits
that never fully heal
—Terri Guillemets
CONTEMPORARY POETRY —
paying at the tollbooth with pretty words
then swimming naked under the bridge
—Terri Guillemets
When I fall into old age, let it be not a drunkenly face-first tumble but rather a graceful autumn leaf drifting from the tree.
Or do we ascend into older age? If so, then let me soar and not be slung.
—Terri Guillemets
It’s all about how he saves her — not from the dragon but from herself.
—Terri Guillemets
Mountain pose is an affirmation. You can conquer anything with your natural boldness and resolute strength. Only you can reach the peak of your success.
Warrior pose battles inner weakness and wins focus. You see that there is no war within you. You’re on your own side, and you are your own strength.
Tree pose grows confidence. It grounds. It roots us to this world.
Chair pose is a defiance of spirit, showing how high you can reach even when you’re forced down.
All unimportant matters drop off you in ragdoll pose. Very few things are genuinely important. The Truth sways before you.
Corpse pose restores life. Dead parts of your being fall away — the ghosts are released.
—Terri Guillemets
her head was cracked —
not tragically, just poetically
it’s how the poems got in —
and out
—Terri Guillemets