Poem Renaissance – Susan Vespoli

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 20^th, a new poem to fall in love with all over again.

I Come from a Line of Women
by Susan Vespoli

Named after saints, queens,
and mothers of Jesus 
who knit pictures into sweaters,
channel Ouija boards into books,
and defecate into cranberry boxes
while on road trips by themselves.

I come from a line of women
who glue false eyelashes 
onto their lids in their eighties,
sport jungle pelt prints,
and wallpaper bathrooms
with photos of Tom Jones.

I come from a line of women 
who drag children cross country by train 
to locate philandering husbands
and say meals must contain a root,
leaf, and seed vegetable.

I come from a line of women 
who fly Beechcrafts, lead Girl Scouts,
travel the world and say they will
only come home in a box.

I come from a line of women
who drop dead outside of parked cars
still holding the keys in their hands.


                    Originally published in Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse.



Susan Vespoli writes from Arizona where she believes in the power of writing to stay sane. https://susanvespoli.com/

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

Previous Renaissance Poets

April Poets

May Poets