Poems of Note + Yoga update

Hello Poetry and Yoga Lovers! 

I imagine there is quite an overlap there. 

Anyhow, I'm posting for two reasons. 1. to share some of my favorite poems that have come out of my year of poetry 2023 so far and 2. to share some exciting news about my yoga teaching! 

So, in reverse order - I'm officially teaching yoga at a STUDIO starting April 4th, 2023. I'm ecstatic. I've been on this yoga teaching journey and have been teaching since 2018 but only through my own LLC. Now, I'll be teaching two classes every Tuesday at Green Lotus Yoga and Healing Center in Lakeville, MN. I'll be teaching Yin from 4:45-5:45pm and Vinyasa from 6-7pm. 

And now for the poems, my intention with sharing them here is to draw attention to my Patreon. I really believe that the world will be a better place the more time we get to spend doing art, including poetry. So I wanted to give the world of poetry lovers a chance to support my poetry writing in a tangible way. 

That being said, I also believe that reading poetry is a worthwhile endeavor and so I'll put these here for you to enjoy, and hey, if you like it, swing over to my Patreon page and sign up to support my poetry writing! 

Sweet January Treat
by Amy Kay Czechowicz
I'll take this January.
This cold happy moment swept under my feet
Slick as the bead of water melting under my blades
A million sugary January afternoons like this please, garçon
The delectable pine trees beckon with their ice cream boughs
I squint and wobble as the sunshine turns my vision blue
I admire the bright lemons behind my eyelids as I lay
Yes, more of this sweet treat
Beloved - After Vandana Khanna
By Amy Kay Czechowicz
My name means beloved. And maybe my grandpa picked my name, or he liked it at least. I remember his lemon drops and sunshine on the back of a brown armchair. My mother says I made her sick and she weighed less after she carried me than before. I ruined her appetite as I acquired my own.
The other option for my name was Elaina. Oh, that my grandpa would have picked Elaina instead. How elegant I would have been, a dancer, certainly. Instead of a stout midwestern gal with a hearty appetite and the legs to show for it.
Now, though, I'm glad for my name. Grateful to grandpa and the story. Glad to know the secret meaning at introductions or when I'm giving myself pep-talks. A reminder, at the least, that I'm lovable, capable of being loved. Beloved. 

The Word of the Day is Paladin
by Amy Kay Czechowicz

A millennium between us and the pal of Charlemagne
Does heroism and honor have the same name?
Do we as peers in this modern court
Exceed the measure our forebears did start?
Do we study history to not relive the past
Cringing and cheering for Irene the Empress
Are we stuck in mirrored plots and foibles
Still thrashing for say-so and gouging out eyeballs
How tiresome to realize nobilities nativity
Power granted through access and breeding
One thousand years earlier and one thousand years back
Lost at the beginning or found in the clash