believing my wings were fragile and fractured
in my formidable forties, i abandoned
approaching fifty, i know my wings are strong
they just cannot lift so many heavy
—Terri Guillemets
stress
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
$ick
in this day and age
dealing with health insurance
worst disease of all
—Terri Guillemets
“All complaints about life today will be ignored unless they are submitted in the format of elegant haiku poetry.”
Weighed down
the scale now shows me
one hundred sixty-eight
but in those simple digits
I see rejection and pain
sugar, laziness, exhaustion
hormones splayed out of whack
menopause ready to rumble
plaque buildup and repressions
anxiety, regret, some depression
the past, the future, sheer panic
tension, disoriented expectations
ice cream, sweet junk addictions
griefs, hurts, disappointments
bad habits, cliffs, fear, falling
the eating of all my emotions
gluttony and gorging ghosts
turbulent raging blood glucose
sleepless nights, too-busy days
nerves, toxins, worry, age
unwelcome rapid-fire change
lack of trying, trying too hard
loss of control, culinary excesses
no longer fitting into my dresses
—Terri Guillemets
Losing count
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
Saving y’all some time
After reading countless health books over the past couple of decades, I can tell you it pretty much all boils down to this: Eat plenty of veggies, work, play, rest, and don’t worry.
—Terri Guillemets
Refuge
Tea time — a brief recess from dodging life’s blowdarts.
—Terri Guillemets
Hard to escape
Even happiness worries sometimes.
—Terri Guillemets
Revenant
O! how many ghosts in a wound of war.
—Terri Guillemets
Tough as concrete
Each negative experience hardens us a little more to life. Some of us are tough as concrete. But try to leave yourself a few cracks, so that love and flowers can grow through.
—Terri Guillemets
Soaring
Give your stress wings and let it fly away.
—Terri Guillemets
Calm in a cup
Tea is a magical calming elixir — like, as if coffee had a therapist.
—Terri Guillemets
Mind own secrets
Frustration is nothing more than letting your own mind bully you.
—Terri Guillemets
Anew
Our bodies let go when it’s time to let go — it’s called death. We ought to let go of the little burdensome things each day — that’s called living.
—Terri Guillemets
Inner light
If you keep a sunny attitude, you will glow like a rainbow when life gets stormy.
—Terri Guillemets
Don’t just sit there
If life is good, don’t just sit there — dance!
If life’s not so good — dance even more.
—Terri Guillemets
Ever finding
Always remember lost, so that you don’t take for granted found.
—Terri Guillemets
Stop to smell the goodness
Life. — Enjoy whatever flowers come with the manure.
—Terri Guillemets
Stitches & seams
I need to get over the hard times of my past. They’ve left scars, but scars are just memories.
—Terri Guillemets
Pierced flight
thorns and stings
and those such things
just make stronger
our angel wings
—Terri Guillemets
P.S. Thank you to everyone who has written letting me know that Katya Elise Henry got a tattoo of this poem. Honestly, I didn’t know who she was and had to look it up. But that’s pretty cool, and a nice tattoo.
No, thanks
Don’t feel guilty about saying no to the nonessentials in life! —
simplicity is
saying yes to joy
by saying no to
overmuch
overwhelm
overdoing
overhaving
overbeing
—Terri Guillemets
Re-learning life
Focus on the simple, good things in life and breathe your way through the minor struggles.
—Terri Guillemets
A turning trial by fire
Anger makes your life — and your body —
—Terri Guillemets
Bartleby
How can something bother you if you won’t let it?
—Terri Guillemets
A million invisible nothings
Sometimes I get overwhelmed by nothing.
—Terri Guillemets