i vomit confusion & butterflies
i sweat fear and i bleed dread
i fall deaf from society’s lies
i gag on metallic tastes of pain
i run from the reek of regret
i save my minutes & lose my hours
i dance on the minefield of mind
i freeze my worries for later
i breathe a reverie’d ether of beauty
i drown in fantasy too deep
i love on the edges of souls
i sleep on the shores of night
i glow at the sight of each morning
i delight in the sunshine of pleasure
i plant my seeds in thankfulness
i get high on nature’s magnificence
i stare in reverence at trees
i cherish each blissful breeze
i open every window i can
i invite every light to play
i adore every cloud in the sky
i welcome each raindrop & tear
i memorize every flower’s aura
i read old books & withering leaves
i paint myself with colors of truth
i polish the bright side’s halo
i chase angels & occasionally devils
i pray from within & without
i armor myself with art
i question my body and listen
i dream my heart’s inside-out
i work until i’m exhausted
i let go of some things & not others
i giggle breathlessly ’til i cry
i hug without asking why
i nourish my spirit with poetry
i cover my journals with ink
i drink my wisdom from teacups
i inhale wild mists of wonder
i hem my madness with sanity
i tick, i zig, i zag, and i tock
i err on the side of risk
i ride wayward shooting stars
i flow with the river of time
terri guillemets
composed by yours truly
Paper doesn’t forget
We write to remember our nows later.
Ill & well
Do not take anything for granted — not one smile or one person or one rainbow or one breath, or one night in your cozy bed.
Brimming
Time pours his guests a cup of tea but the party is over before we know it.
Undoing
once you’ve forgiven yourself
do not un-forgive yourself on
each anniversary of the guilt
Eye floaters
snakes and worms
squiggles and sperms
phantom insects
crawling, free-falling
Stick with calm
Try not to worry, as it’s sticky and hard to scrub off.
Love-beats
Hating withers your heart. Hearts that don’t pump love, atrophy.
Seasons’ greetings
some trees re-leaf in the blink of an eye
the instant that winter first hesitates —
and some wait till a quarter of summer
Humble warrior
Success is a shell — don’t let it harden around your ego.
Failure is a shell — don’t let it harden around your determination.
It’s now
Don’t let the past steal your present.
Fell swoop
Birds in the springtime —
daredevilish in their quest
songful in their survival —
weightless wings — heavy risk
$ick
in this day and age
dealing with health insurance
worst disease of all
“All complaints about life today will be ignored unless they are submitted in the format of elegant haiku poetry.”