Welcome to another installment of If My Book, the Monkeybicycle feature in which authors shed light on their recently released books by comparing them to weird things. This week Erin Dorney writes about her new image-text collection, Yes I Am Human I Know You Were Wondering, out now from Autofocus.
If my book were a stretch it would be alternating elbow-knee—flexion of—inner movement. Lower back flattener pressure problems. Blood pooling, recirculating. My book would be breathing bustline butt muscles. Chin-up dance stretches eating elbows. Elevating on wall shoulder stand, slant board, face feet massage—elongation every day. Fetus position figure skating, fingers function of, using mat, yoga isolation inside of upper leg. My book slightly bent. My book ligaments overstretching. Pectoral pelvic tilting, posture when lifting, when sitting, when sleeping, when standing. Range of motion rib cage—warm up, warm down. Shin splints, shoulder pinch, my book would be rounded, slumping, sitting cross-legged. Soreness twists, splits spontaneous, a how-to for beginners.
This is a found poem sourced from the index of Stretching by Bob Anderson (Shelter Publications, 1980).
Erin Dorney is a poet and artist based in western New York. She is the author of Yes I Am Human I Know You Were Wondering (Autofocus, March 2025), The Usual Arteries (Illuminated Press), Grating, Darling, Full of Dirt (Common Meter Press), I Am Not Famous Anymore: Poems After Shia LaBeouf (Mason Jar Press), and many zines and artist’s books. Her literary artwork and installations have been featured at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Hennepin Theatre Trust, the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, and Susquehanna Art Museum. She is the co-founder of Fear No Lit, a NYSCA Support for Artists grantee, and participated in the CRNY Artist Employment Program from 2022-2024. Learn more at www.erindorney.com.