In the poem, the speaker is trying to describe what a jellyfish feels like The first stanza of the poem presents the jellyfish as a creature that is “spongy and soft” and “slimy” but also “spiky.” These descriptions are contrasted with phrases like “slippery skin,” which suggests that the speaker does not consider the jellyfish to be very solid. The second stanza describes how it looks as if it has a face and eyes, but in reality it doesn’t have any features. The third stanza suggests that it’s not alive at all: its body just drifts through water.