Nicholas Starkey writes on a fresh way of thinking about fore in the everyday in ‘Folkloric’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Starla DeKruyf writes on music’s profound ability to evoke emotion and transport you to a different time and place in ‘Tribute to Music’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Craig Lamont writes on conception through an almost-clean window into ordinary life with all the hints of love and pain in ‘Trying’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Caoimhín de Paor writes on Irish folklore and malevolent creatures in the home in ‘Fairy’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Jenny Lester writes on rape culture, transphobia, the climate crisis and elemental women in ‘A Mermaid Returns to the Sea’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Andrés N Ordorica explores the blurred lines of experiencing life in the present whilst imagining how it will be remembered in the future in ‘Hove’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Larissa Reid writes on the tug of place on memory and the romance of mythic-like encounters in ‘Fusion’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Fred Pollack writes on politics, inequality and longing for utopia ‘Interviews with Trump Supporters’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

John Grey’s poem ‘First Day in Nanchang’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2 explores people watching and absorbing culture through the joy of quotidian moments.

Yvette J. Green writes on womanhood, shared personal stories, strength and faith in ‘In Memoriam (For K.M.)’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Regina G Beach writes on discovering the hidden stories behind places during the onset of the Covid-19 crisis in ‘On Body Snatchers, Peat Bogs and Invisible Things’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Samuel Best writes on the sinister side of nursery rhymes as a gruesome scene unfolds in ‘Collective Nouns for Corvids’ for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.

Bryana Joy’s poem ‘Annie’ takes us to a small Black Sea village in Northern Turkey and explores the complex tensions and pettiness of childhood.

Karen D’Arcy-Kernan’s poem ‘A Hebridean Body’ explores the wild and rugged landscape of the Scottish isles and their innate connection to the human body for Silk + Smoke Issue 2.