Poem Renaissance – Shaun R. Pankoski

Poem Renaissance

Gyroscope Review is celebrating National Poetry Month with a Poem Renaissance, a review of previously published poems looking for new life and new views. Every day through May 20th, a new poem to fall in love with all over again.

Mimosa Pudica
by Shaun R. Pankoski

We call it shy grass, he said, as I pointed
to the dark, creeping foliage, the pert pink flowers
looking like miniature firework displays.
Then he bent down, looked up at me,
and ran his forefinger gently along one of the veins.
The double compound leaflets folded―
like synchronized swimmers,
like tiny hands in prayer,
like a Venus flytrap.
I had just moved here. Everything was new
and amazing. Including him. I felt myself shiver
as I watched him touch vein after vein.
Now, I pull these from my yard with a vengeance.
I wear thick gloves with rubber fingertips
and padded palms. Far from shy, sleepy
or shamed, their taproot is strong and robust.
Now I know they fold to expose themselves,
to reveal a million tiny barbs, easily drawing blood.


Originally appeared in Thimble Literary Magazine, Fall 2024 issue



Shaun R. Pankoski (she/her) is a poet most recently from Volcano, Hawaii. A retired county worker and two time breast cancer survivor, she has lived on both coasts as well as the Midwest as an artist's model, modern dancer, massage therapist and honorably discharged Air Force veteran. A 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, her poems have appeared here and in ONE ART, Quartet, SWIMM, Anacapa Review, Mackinaw Journal, and MockingHeart Review, among others. She was selected as a finalist by Lefty Blondie Press for her chapbook manuscript, Tipping the Maids in Chocolate: Observations of Japan.

Don’t forget to read the Spring 2025 Issue, available now, online and in print

Previous Renaissance Poets

April Poets

  1. Jonathan Yungkans
  2. Ruth Mota
  3. Elizabeth Gauffreau
  4. Sarah Carleton
  5. Cal Freeman
  6. Lynn D. Gilbert
  7. Alison Stone
  8. Tess Lecuyer
  9. Adrianna Gordey
  10. Carol Barrett
  11. Marjorie Maddox
  12. Karen Neuberg
  13. John Peter Beck
  14. Gail Braune Comorat
  15. David Colodney
  16. Robert Wexelblatt
  17. Susan Kress
  18. Sharon Pretti
  19. Mona Anderson
  20. Alexis Rhone Fancher
  21. Suzanne Edison
  22. Mary Padgen Michna
  23. M. Benjamin Thorne
  24. Bethany Tap
  25. Chrissy Stegman
  26. jane putnam perry
  27. Andy Macera
  28. Laurie Rosen
  29. Zeke Shomler
  30. Jennifer Randall Hotz

May Poets

  1. Ralph Stevens
  2. Wess Mongo Jolley
  3. Lana Hechtman Ayers
  4. Louhi Pohjola
  5. Oisín Breen
  6. Lizzie Purkis
  7. Sara Letourneau
  8. Terry Hall Bodine
  9. Michael Dwayne Smith
  10. Marc Alan Di Martino
  11. Bonnie Proudfoot
  12. Bill Schreiber
  13. Robbi Nester