April 8 – Laurie Kuntz

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!

Style

Style

Your father and I admonished you
for walking ahead on the craggy mountain ridge.

You defended your eager steps,
saying you were musing
on the musical styles
of Mingus, Parker, and Shorter,

leaving your parents stymied
by the unfamiliar refrains of rugged hills and curves —

in a slippery moment, chide turned to philosophy.

On top of a mountain, you professed to one thing:

Everyone’s style becomes familiar —
the blooming seasons of my poetry,
a worn pedestrian sole.

After 20 years of weaving your life
into draping wisteria and waning moons,
You now want to see the butterfly —
Mortar, pestle, sulfur,
……………………………………vinegar and brine
………………………………………………………………..ground to chrysalis.



"Style" first appeared in Jerry Jazz Musician Journal. 
The Sunday Poem: “Style” by Laurie Kuntz

WRITING ASSISTANT BIO

Laurie Kuntz’s two rescue dogs, Sage and Merlin, named for wisdom and magic, are frolicking in doggy heaven. While on Earth, they embodied their names. Merlin, who lived in the yard and never wanted to sit inside by the warm fire,  loved being a stray and avoided the dog catcher when he roamed the neighborhood in northern Japan where their poet mama lived and fed him. Sage, the wiser of the two, loved to cuddle on the couch and was wise enough not to poop on the many rugs in the house. These two rescues inspired many a poem, and the poet who loved them lives day- to- day in hopes that she honors the true meaning of their names.  

AUTHOR BIO

Laurie Kuntz is a four-time Pushcart Prize nominee and a two-time Best of the Net Nominee. She has published six books of poetry.  Her latest book, That Infinite Roar, was published by Gyroscope  Press. Her themes come from working with Southeast Asian refugees, living as an expatriate in Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Brazil, raising a husband and son, and loving her 12 cats and 2 dogs.

https://lauriekuntz.myportfolio.com/home-1

Her Book titles are:

That Infinite Roar

Talking Me off the Roof

The Moon Over My Mother’s House

Women at the Onsen

Simple Gestures

Somewhere in the Telling 

Links to where they can be purchased are on her website and Amazon.

https://lauriekuntz.myportfolio.com/books-and-chapbooks

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