A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton.

Daughtr of the 90s

when she gets promoted to usherette
a baby blu eel carries her all the way up
to mothership she’s hovering high

she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves
she lets the only lonely flowers
of the world in for free

she lets the district angels of the court sleep
all day in the back row
(cos that’s what keanu wd do)

mākutu can keep her bottle of O negative
let her watch let her touch herself
let her talk herself up

let her go curse tha lawyers in the gold class seats
they’re groping her ass in the dark again
& they still havnt paid for their high thigh massage

lyf’s all lux in row K

bk at the arcade the kids all dress up to winona
she’s making a comeback
they got all that big suit retro shit

lovelorn daughtrs of the 90s
recharge the sad gurls at the skyy arcade!
nothing will ever stop them

Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 (Massey University Press) is in stores now.

The Friday Poem is edited by Chris Tse. Submissions are now being accepted until 21 April 2024. Please send up to three poems in a PDF or Word document to chris@christse.co.nz.