9: Spider

O Holy One
who governs the vast and endless spaces
between the galaxies,
yet cares for the sparrows sold two for a farthing,
you fashioned this wee eight-legged engine,
geometer of lethal gossamer,
fly-slayer, death-weaver, rain-catcher,
critter I swat with a furious slipper
if I spy him in the bathroom.

I cannot discern your purpose in making this creature,
bane of housewives, arachnid mascot of Halloween:
perhaps you meant to give your human poets
an example of patience and measure,
of fatal and unswerving concentration,
architect adept
at storm-sturdy structures of air and thread.

11 thoughts on “9: Spider

  1. Strong symbolism throughout, and I very much like how you take something as tiny as a spider and create it as a vast being. Especially because of the experience of writing a similar poem and also reading / commenting on the larger conversation, I appreciate these lines best:
    “perhaps you meant to give your human poets
    an example of patience and measure,
    of fatal and unswerving concentration”

  2. What a gloriously beautiful and intricate poem – exploring the spider as the tiny creation of one who creates galaxies, the representation of so much stoic patience and endeavour – this ” wee eight-legged engine,
    geometer of lethal gossamer/fly-slayer, death-weaver, rain-catcher.” It may be a ‘critter’ that many of us ease out of the rooms we live in, but it becomes so much more here!

  3. Did you take part in the marathon last year? Yes – I remember writing Dark Days: the marathon has been an incredibly productive experience for me and I’ve been delighted to make some really good friends across the world as a result of participating in it!

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