Nine Arches Press presents...

Lewis Buxton

From Boy in Various Poses

Boys Do Push Ups

their bodies low to the earth like beetles, arms

splayed pushing themselves up. One boy trembles but

follows his routine, every day, the calendar setting out

the weeks till summer, his hands knowing the psalm

the body must say to be presentable. He imagines his

biceps turning to pipe organs, the neat pews of his

abdomen. The rugby coach in his brain shouts at him

to go all the way to the ground and back up again.

Even though he is ten years past that, he still knows

exactly how to kneel, how to stretch his legs to plank

behind him, to slowly lift, and then press down, his

head nudging the floor as if praying.

Lewis Buxton was born in 1993 and is a poet, performer and arts producer. His poems have appeared in The Rialto, Magma, Ambit and Oxford Poetry. In 2018 he received the UEA Literary Festival Bursary and was named one of The Poetry School and Nine Arches Press’ Primers Volume Four poets. He is Director of the poetry project, TOAST and teaches writing in schools and libraries around the country. He currently lives in Norfolk. Boy in Various Poses is his first collection.

Nine Arches Press has over one hundred poetry publications, with titles shortlisted for prizes including the Forward Best First Collection, the TS Eliot Poetry Prize, the Ted Hughes Award, the Michael Murphy Prize, and the Polari Prize. They also produce Under the Radar magazine, a year round programme of workshops and events, and offer writer development and mentoring opportunities.

Boy in Various Poses is available from ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections