Welcome to National Poetry Month and Gyroscope Review’s month-long celebration of poets – and their diverse Writing Assistants. Enjoy the audio/video works by previous Gyroscope Review poets and be sure to check out the Author and fun Writing Assistant Bio at the end of each NPM poet post. Don’t forget to tag the poet on Social Media and let them know you enjoyed their work!
Murmuration
—Chaos Dive Reunion, Mutabilis Press, 2023
Communion
Communion
Mossy gravestones list like the ravaged teeth of some giant,
all snaggle-toothed, one or two loose in their peaty cavity.
I graze my veined hand across weathered marble,
peer at letters engraved into ancient stone,
lichen obscuring their meaning.
Leaves rattle like voices of the dead and I cock my head,
listen for you amongst the choir.
Each one longs to be heard but only yours rings true.
Arthritic joints click as I kneel on the grass—a prayer mat facing Mecca.
The cloth napkin I unfold releases the yeasty scent
of bread I baked this morning, still warm.
I hold before me a piece torn off, cupped in my hands like an offering.
It won’t bring you back, I know, but I hope it will honor you in some way.
On my tongue it rests lightly. I inhale so its taste reaches the back of my throat.
Then I chew very slowly until it turns wet and heavy in my mouth.
Bending over, hands folded, I breath into you. Can you taste it?
Worn grooves naming the dead curve as I trace their edges like braille.
What do they tell, beyond your name, your first and last breath—
what about everything in between?
A bird calls from high above, a soundtrack to your too-short life.
High notes accompany the better days—
your first kiss, your first child born into the world,
the one I held in my arms.
So fragile. But not as fragile as you, it turned out.
The bird’s cries turn shrill—
the pain of childbirth,
the heartache of losing your true love,
the first and the last.
I wail into the trees, my own voice joining the chorus.
Until all is silent, and I hear only your bones
decomposing beneath the wet earth.
—Gyroscope Review, Fall Crone Power Issue, 2023
WRITING ASSISTANT BIO
Nigel the Elder spent his twilight years in a patch of sunlight on his bed, which he shared with his beloved best friend, Georgina. They slept curled in each other’s arms every night. His greatest achievement is being Georgina’s muse—all her stories feature a cat. But he’s most proud of her latest which has an actual lion in it! He fancies himself a lion, although his roar on only slightly less formidable, perhaps. She doesn’t know it, but he still sits next to her as she types away on her laptop, using his powers to channel her next literary feline.
AUTHOR BIO
Georgina Key is an award-winning author whose debut novel, Shiny Bits In Between, is a recipient of the Phoenix prize for Best New Voice of 2020 (Kops-Fetherling International Book Award) and a finalist for the 2022 International Book Awards in women’s fiction. Her poetry has appeared in several journals and anthologies. Georgina was born and raised in England and currently splits her time between the UK and Texas. Her second novel, Syllables of the Briny World, will be availabe April 2024. She is currently finishing her third novel which is set in England.
Visit the author’s website at www.georginakey.com, or her social media accounts at https://www.instagram.com/keygeorgina/ and https://www.facebook.com/gkeyauthor
Don’t forget to read the Spring 2024 Issue of Gyroscope Review.
NPM 2024 Poets
April 1 – Cal Freeman
April 2 – Susanna Lang
April 3 – Marion Brown
April 4 – Melissa Huff
April 5 – Elaine Sorrentino
April 6 – Alison Stone
April 7 – Alexandra Fössinger
April 8 – Laurie Kuntz
April 9 – Dick Westheimer
April 10 – Wendy McVicker
April 11 – J.I. Kleinberg
April 12 – Ellen Austin-Li
April 13 – D. Dina Friedman
April 14 – Connie Post
April 15 – Georgina Key