Sea Smoke by Louis Jenkins: Prose Poetry

Sea Smoke by Louis Jenkins is a collection of sixty prose poems. Each poem is less than one page so the book is a quick read. The poems have a distinct northern-Midwest rural feel to them which I enjoyed. The poems are broken up into four parts and I have to say I never figured out why. I looked for themes within each part and didn’t come up with anything. I don’t feel like giving it much more thought so sorry, I don’t have anything genius to share.

That being said, I really enjoyed part one. I found myself smiling or chuckling in my head while reading it. Parts two through four had some hit and misses for me. My favorite poem was “Free Lawn Mower” which ponders the different aspects of the word “free.” A close second was “Goings On Around the House” which references Walt Whitman’s “noiseless, patient spider.”  Overall, the poems were fun and easy to read. I think Jenkins’ poetry will please those from the Midwest United States. The scenes depicted definitely struck a chord with me.  
Publisher: Holy Cow! Press, 2004    Pages: 76
Rating: 3.5 Stars    Source: University of Iowa Libraries