The Spider
by: Zanzibar
Every young spider must choose a corner
Choose a corner in which to build her life
In which to build her life, her web, to take her chances
To take her chances that insects will come.
Maud was no different, she chose a corner
A dark corner, filled with debris
A debris-filled bathroom corner, behind a pipe
Taking her chances that insects would come.
But the web of Maud stayed empty
The carefully woven web of Maud that would catch anything
The web of Maud stayed empty
And the insects did not come.
The multi-eyed spider mind of Maud filled with doubt
About the corner, about the instincts
Which made her gamble on this corner
Despite the insects that did not come.
Yet Maud tended her web
Her perfect web that would catch anything
And Maud grew hungry
For insects that did not come.
A spider's web will do its hunting
Unless the bathroom walls are well-sealed
And the window is closed
And there are no insects there to come.
Maud did her own hunting
Ranging to distant corners, where her web might have been
She might have built her web in other corners
Where the insects might have come.
Somebody left the light on, accidentally
Somebody left the light on, and the window open just so
And the bathroom was filled with insects
And the web was filled with insects
For a spider that did not come.