watching over the shoulder of patience
studying how he does his work
—Terri Guillemets
Personal Journal
Dark thoughts
how the nighttime looks
during a power outage
is how night should look
—Terri Guillemets
Westerly
sunset casts shadows
yet we see only colors
and glorious light
—Terri Guillemets
Rippling
in nature i am
water in the breeze
going with the flow
in society i thrash
every cell halting
resistance grows
i become boulder
thrown off cliffs
accelerating through
no choice of my own
landing hard
splitting open
shattering into
everything wrong
—Terri Guillemets
City night
oh my gosh is that a star
in bright city sky?
nope! police helicopter
—Terri Guillemets
Finally a bath!
watching birds splash in
morning-after rain puddles
cleanses my spirit
—Terri Guillemets
Inflame
the world we abuse
roasting us like marshmallows
in a fire we lit
—Terri Guillemets
Accelerant
our apocalypse
once in ultra slow motion
now on fast forward
—Terri Guillemets
CBT
but the science bears out
my catastrophic thinking
—Terri Guillemets
Phoenix skies
we can see the air
praying monk choking in orange
begging for clean breaths
—Terri Guillemets
My heart
God completed my heart
then you finished it —
mortal combat style
—Terri Guillemets
Sugar shock
my willpower has become
a fraction of what it was—
my sweet tooth is now
much greater than my resolve—
and the laboratory reports
that my blood glucose
no longer measures in
milligrams per deciliter—
but in sugar cubes squared
—Terri Guillemets
Tough enough
they say I am sensitive
and that I’m not tough —
enough. but — I made
it this far — ain’t I have?
amongst y’all, who are.
—Terri Guillemets