2 poems by Judith Amanthis

Silly fish

pit in the gut

fills up quick as it drains

a ripple not a ripple

nor a whale whistling

never been one who

the sea embalms and softens

what you hear is a weird fish some shark

times mackerel times coley times

white fish pie with parsley sauce for the sons

times fat tilapia

from the Volta with joyful eyes

for the lover on a bed of red hot

scotch bonnet laughing

how long will you grieve

when will you plunge silly fish

of fins and tail and gills

always wanted to

flap that larynx

flash those soft strappy teeth

breathe water

Hot chocolate

so please I really need extremely hot

and extra and another extra hot

if it’s possible please do it hot

as a machine’ll stack is that ok so hot

extra choke hot

another hot

as elsewhere don’t worry I really love ninety hot

know what I’m saying hotter hot

deep fizz stick hot

over froth is where I’m at did I already say south hot

did you write that down I promise I won’t implicate you in freezing hot hot hot

really. So you say they like simultaneously cancel each other out

naturally you wouldn’t have burned

yourself so, what, your tongue’s skinned?

______

Judith's short fiction and journalism have been published in Ghana, South Africa and the UK. Her novel Dirt Clean was shortlisted for the Society of Authors’ Paul Torday Memorial Prize 2021. Her poetry has appeared in a number of UK publications and she was in the South Bank New Poets Collective 2024/25.