The Friday Poem

A poem every Friday

Karen Smith

Two luminescent jellyfish (presumably of the 'moon' variety) on a blue background.

Watch how we glow

Karen Smith reviews Moon Jellyfish Can Barely Swim by Ness Owen (Parthian, 2023)
What looks like a painting in two panels. Both show an abstract wave breaking. On one side the sky is blue, on the other side it is black. The bottom of the 'sea' is red.

The Ark wasn’t always a toy

Karen Smith reviews Noah by Penelope Shuttle (Broken Sleep Books, 2023)
Pixelated image with a black background and a thick rainbow border on the left hand side and top. Small square blocks of colour seem to explode into the centre from the top left hand corner.

Can’t you see the poetry in throwing a fire extinguisher through the window of the Ritz?

Karen Smith reviews Improvised Explosive Device by Arji Manuelpillai (Penned in the Margins, 2022)
Black text on white reads ‘Sisters, by Karen Smith’ with a Friday Poem yellow blob at the far right top corner.

Sisters,

by Karen Smith — there are ways to protect yourselves / from the perils of quickening in these / days of proscription. After the event, hold // your breath, sit with your knees bent / and sneeze out the seed, or prior / plug yourself with nettle leaves