Birds in the springtime —
daredevilish in their quest
songful in their survival —
weightless wings — heavy risk
—Terri Guillemets
spring
March Night
I shook off the house like a hooded cape,
And came out, free, into the March-blown street…
At a lash of the gale, at a sight of the cloud-tattered skies,
As a coat discarded,
I shook off civilization
And became wild,
And my naked soul raced the clouds,
And the flavor of the Earth was fresh and primitive…
—James Oppenheim (1882–1932), War and Laughter, 1916
Barely knowing
Spring and summer come with a lush layer of foliage over reality, but when things start falling away in the autumn and get bare and stark in the winter we’re forced to look at things more as they really are, including ourselves.
—Terri Guillemets
Blend & blur
late winter and early spring blend and blur
in pleasant days and chilly nights
penetrating sun and gentle cool breezes
with stirrings of life, subtle and green —
mornings that light ever earlier rouse us, but
sunsets that still come in evening’s youth lull
—Terri Guillemets
Desert winter departing
early February in the desert —
the sun is springtime warmth
the breeze, winter’s leftovers
—Terri Guillemets
Waking welcome
Sun coaxes life
from the earth
with its warmth —
Grow, thrive, breathe
green things of the land
wake from your
winter’s nap and
joyously reach
for the spring —
Colors burst
into vibrant being —
fresh fireworks
on verdant stems of life
—Terri Guillemets
City-desert nightwalk
early summer, late at night
pleasant sweet-smelling air
clouds veiling a half-lit moon
Scorpius crawling up the sky
tree-hid birds awake chirping
lone dog barking in its yard
startled stray cats darting
crickets playing insistent songs
quiet of people gone to bed
mellow breezes gently stirring
damp-grass lawns subtly cooling
street lights too brightly illuming
saguaro blooms softly glowing
—Terri Guillemets
Green grace
As Earth sways us from winter to spring
Nature begins her grace of glorious green
—Terri Guillemets
Spring blazes color
vibrant verdure lights
the springtime landscape
in blazingly brilliant greens
a fresh flourishing canvas
for parti-colored sparks
of wildly blooming things
—Terri Guillemets
Seamless
the vibrant green-yellow-pink blossom-life of spring
the watery-blue radiant sunshine-breath of summer
the metallic-earth-toned glowing-decay of autumn
the grey-white holly-festive slow-motion of winter
—Terri Guillemets
Jovial vernal verse
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
Spring out & in
Spring: the music of open windows.
—Terri Guillemets
Spring flight & grounding
Butterflies dot springtime with flitting airy kisses.
—Terri Guillemets
Moonlit plum tree
the moon and plum tree
make flow’ry springtime shadows—
lovers of the night
—Terri Guillemets
Segue
Joyfully spring from the last breaths of summer and gracefully fall into winter.
—Terri Guillemets
Poetry of spring
Springtime is a poet —
the blue sky its blank page
so vibrant green in rhyme
a different metre for every clime
birds chirping to keep the time
wildflowers yellow, red, purple divine
words dancing on tall blades of grasses
sparkling in the morning dews
no commas the flow keeps buzzing
vernal dashes & blossoming branches
on newly greening verdant trees
refrains whispering in each breeze
butterflies — floating apostrophes
ladybugs dot floral question marks
blissful bees stray stanza to stanza
seeds disperse from verse to verse
continuing a poem that’s never ended
and into summer’s colors is blended
—Terri Guillemets
Embracingly spring
When a fresh springtime breeze
embraces you — fling your arms
wide open and hug it right back!
—Terri Guillemets
The fight
Winter is a lean, scrappy fighter. Spring blossoms from the sweat of Winter’s brow.
—Terri Guillemets
Juxtaposing
Spring blossoms flowers
Winter blossoms quietude
—Terri Guillemets
Spring is so —
Spring is so damn pink!
O yes, it’s vibrantly green
and greenly vibrant too—
reds burst, oranges blaze
yellows beam like the sun
violet dazzles vivid delight
blue paints the entire sky—
but the thing that thrills
my soul the most is that
Spring is so damn pink!
—Terri Guillemets
Green lives the purple, orange, yellow
The energy of the earth flows through the veins of springtime.
—Terri Guillemets
Parti-colored
earth’s favorite color is spring
spring’s best-loved color is green
and green himself loves to party
with yellow, red, orange, and pink
—Terri Guillemets
Spring awake
earth dreams of spring
in her winter slumbers
she dozes on and off —
then trembles wide awake
a silent green earthquake
—Terri Guillemets
Wintermind
The color of springtime is in the flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination.
—Terri Guillemets
P.S. Thanks so much to everyone who let me know about USA Today and King Features Syndicate using this quote for their “Cryptoquote” on December 3rd. That’s pretty cool! They actually left out a small portion and quoted it as “The color of springtime is flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination.” —tg, 2022
Speaking of spring
Spring translates earth’s happiness into colorful flowers.
—Terri Guillemets