how to be a cool, chill girl by Emily Coppella (Canada, 25)

​i take a cool — real cool — shower.
baby toe goes into the lake.
stale fridge air kisses my face.

​maybe, i will pack a suitcase.
i will stock up on
cucumber-mint-celery-lime-kiwi-aloe-basil
body wash
and buy a one-way ticket to antarctica
and wave at the dense, slippery body of every penguin.

​
maybe, i will experiment with cryogenics.

maybe, i will soothe my hot tongue
on freezer-burned peas,
suck on icicles,

bury this wolf-heart beneath snow.

​Emily Coppella (she/her) lives on traditional Anishinaabe Mississauga territory. She completed her M.A. In English Language and Literature at Queen’s University and her B.A. in English at Carleton University with a concentration in Creative Writing and a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Her poetry has won 2nd place for the George Johnston Poetry Prize and has been published in several international literary magazines. You can find her on Instagram @emilycoppella.