In the shower
in the wall
on the plastic shell shelf
of the shower stall
I spy thee, spider leg
Masquerading as a hair
like so many of mine
on the soap cake, there
but bent at knobby knee
scythe angle, not a curl
hinting at
its nature true:
Not of me but some other
most namely
you
up there, overhead
your spindly pins busy spinning
your winnings, now dead
I read with my eyes
among your bundles and mess
that, of your body’s long branches
you’re now one less
And yon spider leg,
how you trigger recognition
though mind’s picture contrasts
with your current disposition
At last look still connected
Did you not on occasion
seem to wave down at me?
Halloo! and Ahoy!
Watch me spin and deploy
my gossamer threads
my sticky skein
Hello there, bather
how have you been?
Did you think me rude
not waving back
one eye on you
as I soaped and blustered
down in the spray
rubbing and lathering
day’s proof away?
Oh, I watched
and permitted
Forgave and forswore
engaging in man’s endless
pesticide war
And how many times,
yes, how often have I
ushered you safely
out of harm’s way?
Not a smoosher, I
nor a flusher be
Lo, I gently escort
fly, spider, and slug
from my home
my lunch, my shower
each critter and bug
that might roam
buzz or glower
set outside and free
Whether they threaten
and rattle
or cower and beg
and yet here
is the payoff:
one lone, loose
spider leg
dropped like so much litter
a careless body-part leaf
here in my shower
by the soap bar, dripping
no longer kicking
yet giving me grief
Oh spider akimbo
you, jumble of legs
knitting your attic
of the soon-sucked dead
With one limb less now
do you stumble in your jig
or is seven much simpler
for your death-weaving gig?
And if in the future
a leg should come free
let me ask
could you bundle it
up with those
mummies I see
not set it adrift
on the misty upwellings
of moist heated air
to perhaps and perchance
in this sudsy dwelling
come and land
in what is left of my hair?
cae 6/5/2014
