National Poetry Month : Emily Izsak,

Done Butt-Focused Yoga 

                                 from Never Have I Ever

for Ellen Chang-Richardson

Clenches presume exchanges of breadth     for stricture 

buttressed analogies ache from the stretch 

to emulate   

sullied accordion  posture 

                     bellows spread regal 

                     keyboards in leggings   betray their 

                                                              adult-onset   modesty 

          Data: have we given

          too much? 

                               shy metrics 

                               wither in the salve 

                               belly-up 

Duodenum: we have heard the bile 

                               turn firm 

                               in bridge pose 

                                         Only unfold  for lifespans 

                                         of suitable rigidity  

                                        

Dammit: the hamstrings responded

             rudely

Emily Izsak is the author of Whistle Stops: A Locomotive Serial Poem (Signature Editions, 2017), Twenty Five (above/ground press, 2018) and Stickup (shuffaloff/Eternal Network, 2015). Her work has been published in Arc Poetry Magazine, The Puritan, House Organ, Cough, CV2, The Doris, and The Hart House Review. In 2014 she was selected as PEN Canada’s New Voices Award nominee. Emily currently writes clickbait so she can afford rent in Toronto. She also married a doctor, so that helps.