April 5 – Elaine Sorrentino

NPM Thorpe

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!

A Moment of Silence for the Salad Bar

A Moment of Silence for the Salad Bar

Curtains to the possibility
of sesame cabbage salad
and tapioca pudding
forging a friendship
in the same takeout container,

Adios to sidling up to the bar,
surreptitiously 
elbowing my way 
to the last pickled beet
among the vinegary cornucopia;

the heavy-weight champion 
of abundant choices
as appealing as hitching a ride, 
putting Noxema on a sunburn,
or helmet-free biking,

even the sexy plexi 
has repurposed itself since 2020,
now guarding teenage cashiers,
instead of red bell peppers,
from sneezers and viruses.

I miss sneaky side glances,
pretending I’m not eyeing 
the tempting veggie-protein combo 
composed by the stranger beside me
with a chill-seeking palate;

Goodbye to eight different lettuces,
the thrill of topping tuna salad 
with pickles and sunflower seeds,
and daring to pluck tomatoes 
and red onion with the same tongs. 


This piece first appeared in Sparks of Calliope

WRITING ASSISTANT BIO

Elaine Sorrentino always has a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle on her family room table.  Not only does this distraction provide stress relief and entertainment, it also redirects her brain, helping her find the right words to beat writer’s block.  Elaine finds having Food Network on in the background is inspirational as well.

AUTHOR BIO

Elaine Sorrentino, Communications Director at South Shore Conservatory in Hingham, MA has been published in Minerva Rising, Willawaw Journal, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Ekphrastic Review, Writing in a Women’s Voice, ONE ART: a journal of poetry, Haiku Universe, Sparks of Calliope, Muddy River Poetry Review, Gyroscope Review, Panoplyzine, Etched Onyx Magazine, and at  wildamorris.blogspot.com.  She hosts the Duxbury Poetry Circle and was featured on a poetry podcast at Onyx Publications.  Every Tuesday she posts a haiku on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/elaine.d.sorrentino

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