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!
Hot Soup in My Bowl
Hot Soup in My Bowl by Jacqueline Jules Rain pelts the windows and the thunder is so loud, I can hardly hear the man on the television report downed trees, flash floods, and power outages all over. My lights are still on. There is hot soup in my bowl. And I can have ice cream for dessert if I choose. How can I feel grateful, angry as I am at a world where lightning seems to strike the righteous more often than the wicked. It’s dark outside. The roads are flooded. Nothing can be changed tonight. Is it wrong to snuggle under a blanket, switch the channel to a sitcom, and cherish the safety and shelter I wish others had, too. Published in Route 7 Review, December 2020
On the Way to Chemo
On the Way to Chemo by Jacqueline Jules I paid attention to the squirrel scurrying up the oak as we got into the car. I watched for the giant graffiti rose on the building two blocks from the hospital. I saw the fountain gurgling outside the outpatient entrance. No tulip, no tufted titmouse, no tint of color in the sky passed unnoticed. My eyes sought every evidence that the world still held something worth seeing. Published in The Wild Word, May 2021
WRITING ASSISTANT BIO
Chase the Chair was purchased on a whim at The Container Store after Jacqueline Jules, his poet friend, discarded a much less comfortable chair. He is quite unique. Instead of padding, he has bungee cords in his seat and back rest. This enables Jacqueline to bounce a bit in her chair as she writes. With Chase the Chair, Jacqueline is able to stay seated at her desk to finish a poem without a backache. He is an indispensable writing asset.
AUTHOR BIO
Jacqueline Jules is the author of Manna in the Morning (Kelsay Books, 2021) and three poetry chapbooks, Itzhak Perlman’s Broken String (winner of the 2016 Helen Kay Chapbook Prize from Evening Street Press), Stronger Than Cleopatra (ELJ Publications, 2014) and Field Trip to the Museum (Finishing Line Press, 2014). Her poetry has appeared in over 100 publications including The Sunlight Press, Gyroscope Review, and One Art. She is also the author of two poetry collections for young readers, Tag Your Dreams: Poems of Play and Persistence (Albert Whitman, 2020) and Smoke at the Pentagon: Poems to Remember (Bushel & Peck, 2023). Visit www.jacquelinejules.com
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
April 16 – Judith McKenzie
April 17 – Jacqueline Jules