Lily Writes

sex and oatmeal by Eric Guilmette — A Debut That Cuts Straight to the Soul

I’m a visual person. The cover of sex and oatmeal caught me first—evocative, unexpected, strangely intimate. The title? A contradiction I couldn’t look away from. Then came the early reviews, all glowing green lights: BUY ME. The book said it quietly but insistently.

So I did.

The day it arrived, my Amazon delivery driver gave me their usual cheerful wave, assuming this was just another galley I’d been sent to proof. But no—I whispered to myself—this is different. This is someone else’s secret, and now it’s mine too.

I carried it to the deck, turned off my computer, and promised myself I’d read only a few poems. After all, poetry should be savored slowly. One sip at a time.

But… oh my.

How can one person hold so much talent in his hands?

Eric Guilmette doesn’t just write poems—he opens veins. His words don’t sit politely on the page; they reach for you, press against you, and carve their way into places you forgot were tender. There’s no hiding here. His language is exquisite, yes, but it’s more than craft—it’s confession, it’s pulse, it’s the heartbeat of someone daring to feel everything.

The contrasts floored me: the dizzy rush of intimacy and the echoing silence after. The sweetness of something honey-warm and the bitterness of what’s been left behind. He makes you ache for what’s lost, and at the same time, makes you believe in what could be found again.

I like romance because it’s a roller coaster—the FEELS, the rush, the heartbreak, the hope. sex and oatmeal isn’t romance in the traditional sense, but it’s the same emotional storm distilled down to its rawest essence. It’s messy. It’s vulnerable. It’s beautiful.

I wanted to envy his ability to wield language this way. Instead, I found myself in awe.

This book is more than poetry. It’s a mirror, a prayer, a spell. It’s love, in all its stages—the falling, the breaking, the longing, the fragile daring to try again.

And when I closed the book, I wasn’t done. Not even close.

Because Eric Guilmette doesn’t let you walk away unchanged.

This debut is magic. And I suspect it’s only the beginning.

sex and oatmeal on Amazon