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The shocking imagery of swallowing foxglove juxtaposed with an octopus coaxing her bones from the sea floor feels too romantically dark for this point in the witty, philosophical collection. The tone also shifts especially with the title poem, вЂњSelf-Portrait with Cephalopod and Digitalis Purpurea.вЂќ Smith discusses the serious topic of suicide in budding pubescent girls.

Smith switches poetic style from enjambed lines and short stanzas to dense prose and heavy narrative. The jump in time isnвЂ™t the only difference in section three. The reader travels back in time with Smith as she contemplates her childhood, especially growing up in Washington state and how its geography shaped her as a person. Smith comes to find more solace in sandy shores contemplating creation through broken shells than an almighty designer orchestrating destruction. Several poems are even written in a religious form: psalm, parable, spell, and meditation. Smith queries and quarrels with a higher power in the second section of Cephalopod, вЂњDear wrecker / in the ruin, dear great keeper of forecasts / and dustвЂќ (pg 29). If the title doesnвЂ™t hook the reader, the anti-Ode format will: вЂњthe internet, / it knows me, it says / recommended for you :вЂќ (pg 10).

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вЂњPhotos of Pig That Appears to Have Blue Fat Beneath Skin Shared on Social MediaвЂќ is an exemplary poem. She assesses how humans have become so involved in technology, media, and capitalism that humans themselves conflict with nature. What is our position in this world? Smith plunges headfirst into this immense question requesting the reader to reconsider boundaries of society and nature in the first section. Each section Smith takes a deep dive into aspects of her life and experiences with death spanning through time: current, past, and future. After the opening poem, Cephalopod is divided into four reflective sections. This dark humor is sustained throughout SmithвЂ™s collection, every so often shining through all her existential crisis. At the same time thereвЂ™s still this comedic desire to find joy as Smith adorns herself with вЂњpants the color of a sea cucumberвЂќ (pg 1) and covers her вЂњmammary glands / with a boneless bioluminescence.вЂќ (pg 2) The reader also wants to put on their вЂњcephalopod ringвЂќ (pg 1) as if to click theirs with Smith and shout, вЂњWonder Twin powers, activate!вЂќ (pg 1) Because even though the world may end, wearing an octopus shirt can do wonders to remind oneself there are things still worth living for.

With all these building concerns, the reader senses the impending dread along with Smith. Immediately after GallagherвЂ™s quote the reader is dropped into SmithвЂ™s first poem, вЂњOde to Super Friends and Nature Television.вЂќ Written in a scattered stream of consciousness, Smith begins to list the things she canвЂ™t control from вЂњbirds with nowhere to landвЂќ (pg 1) to вЂњjungle ants with parasitic skewered brainsвЂќ (pg 1) to the worldвЂ™s wobbling axis to stillbirth to ocean levels rising. This is the exact feeling SmithвЂ™s poems invoke: the ever presence of death while one keeps breathing in everyday life. Due to GallagherвЂ™s clever line breaks вЂњdieвЂќ and вЂњliveвЂќ are stacked on top of one another, appearing in complete tandem. You / could live forever.вЂќ Kathryn Smith has chosen a wise quote to enter her third collection of poetry. Self-Portrait with Cephalopod opens with a three-line quote from Tess Gallagher, вЂњYou / could die out there.

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