While researching an old quotation in Google Books, I came across this clever LIFE magazine cover from 101 years ago.
reading in my cozy bed, ridiculously late
words begin to slur and rhymes, to blear
my eyelids fight me — like a heavyweight
goodnight, sweet sleepy zzzzzhakespeare
—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
Damnit! I binged
again II day
IV life was hard
and so I
VIII my stress away.
O why do I so of X gorge?
Since turning XL
I’ve been extra large.
—Terri Guillemets
Standing in a silent still-dark February morning
Cool dewy grass grazes half-bare sandaled feet
Lo! Saturn arrives as Jupiter saddles Sagittarius
Mars burns red near the glowing crescent moon
Serpens slithers against a vaporous galaxy border
Antares winks green and gold, crimson and rust
As Scorpius swings its tail at the southern horizon
Libra starboard and upward of the crowded scene
Balancing askew over the poor impaled lone wolf
Ophiuchus a bystander in the busy celestial show
—Terri Guillemets
First four decades time’s a hero
Then stops suddenly all the fun
Forty arrives a stranger new
But life is like a grand old tree
Strong yet flexible at the core
Roots ever deepen to stay alive
At this age there’s no real fix
Just patches is all, ’til heaven
Although it still be not too late
So let the autumn soul shine
Breathe and let thy life go zen
—Terri Guillemets
Spring is the green
is the peace
is the breeze
and the blossoms
and the blues
past the buds
to the pinks
on the brink
and the warmth
and the warbles
and the weeds
all the yellows
and the bees
and the buzzing
living branches
and the grasses
and the gardens
and the growing
and the blowing
of the pollens
oh! the purples
and the chirples
of the birds
and the beauty
and the butterflies
in the skies
and the sun—
Springtime’s fun!
—Terri Guillemets
Grass of Walt
[D!@%] of Moby
Boz gets Lit
Bard’s the [$h¡t]
—Terri Guillemets
I don’t cry over spilt milk, but a fallen scoop of ice cream is enough to ruin my whole day.
—Terri Guillemets
P.S. Thank you to crossword constructor Judge Victor Fleming of Arkansas and his puzzle partner Bonnie Gentry of Arizona for turning this quotation into a crossword puzzle titled “Mishap to Avoid at Ben & Jerry’s,” published in Simon & Schuster Mega Crossword Puzzle Book #7. Judge Fleming is also responsible for outing me in a 2008 article at a time when I had been trying to run The Quote Garden in a more-or-less anonymous manner. But since it happened anyway, I decided to go with it and very shortly thereafter added my photo to the website and shared a little more about myself. So it turned out to be a good thing even though at first I was a tad mortified.
I’m a coffee is half-full kind of girl.
—Terri Guillemets