Tuesday, August 31, 2010

weave little webs


she hovers
on silk
perhaps a smile
perhaps a dream or two
perhaps she sleeps
as the clouds drift overhead

what was she
before this

what will she be
afterwards

what little animal's life
will end
in her arms

what will that little animal become

and i
filling so much of her
world in this moment
when she feels my breath
as i sit near her
and watch
does she know i exist

30 comments:

NanU said...

she's just wondering if she's got enough silk to pin you down. Jackpot!

Elisabeth said...

And is she making babies?

I see spiders in webs like this and i think Charlotte's web and all those tiny cartoon spiders. Wonderful words and image. Thanks, Steven.

nollyposh said...

Too right she does! Looks like if you get too close she might bite your nose orf! Lovely words though X:-)

Valerianna said...

Its something to contemplate- living in a world where sometimes one comes upon giants... or, they come upon you!

R. Burnett Baker said...

I like this one... It reads like a secret crush, a longing from afar! How delicately nature mirrors our own desires and vulnerabilities.

Rick

splendid said...

this is such a great perspective
beautiful

The Bug said...

Ooh - fascinating & kinda creepy. I'm usually ok with spiders unless they're crawling toward me. My heebie-jeebies aside - I really LOVE your poem about what she may or may not be thinking!

I didn't know if you had heard about Goldenrod. She's not doing very well. You can read a bit about her situation at her daughter's blog http://www.polimom.com/.

ellen abbott said...

Oh yes, she knows.

Linda Sue said...

AWESOME spiderish thoughts and wishes...Spiders are one of my most favorite beings, other bugs are cool but spiders have an intelligence that surpasses our own. I do wonder if they sleep as the clouds move overhead...thought worthy...

Friko said...

perhaps she is too busy waiting to entrap her next meal to notice you. We tend to anthropomorphise creatures, do they do the same to us?
I doubt it, we are just the enemy.

Tess Kincaid said...

Sadly, my summer patio spider was nowhere to be seen this summer.

Reya Mellicker said...

Of course she knows you. You two are clearly in relationship to each other. She feels your breath. How beautiful is that??

steven said...

nanu - for a spider there'd be lots but i'm not that big - mostly bone and gristle!!! steven

steven said...

elisabeth - i forgot to ask her! i think she's focussed on nabbing little insects. every year 'round this time there are one or two spiders who set up their webs around our house. i really need to know more about why. steven

steven said...

nolly! lovely to see you! nip my schnozz!! ouch and yow! steven

steven said...

and valerianna - i wonder what giant is watching me unbeknownst to myself. steven

steven said...

hey rick - it does read like that! when you put that spin on it i think back to high school and the many "loves" i experienced. steven

steven said...

well thankyou splendid!! steven

steven said...

hey bug - i don't mind bugs for some strange reason. they bother everyone else in the house. i hadn't known about goldenrod - we lost touch about a year back. i checked in at the linked blog and left my love. ahhhh goldenrod - she's such a strong proud woman. steven

steven said...

ellen - you think?! i watch a lot of little creatures - i'm fascinated by their comings and goings and doings and beings. i sometimes wonder if they know about me and how they put it all together. like the chipmunk who sits in my hand and stares right into my eyes. just stares - and i stare right back as i talk to her. steven

steven said...

linda sue - i like spiders as i like cats - they seem to have their own worlds, to be somehow other, not entirely connected with this place. i wonder about their thoughts and their lives. steven

steven said...

friko - good comment and question. i see all living things as matrices of energy that emerge and dissolve into a field of energy as they are born and when they die. the essence energy never leaves but is mediated by karmic forces that tie the energy to a quality of form that determines "the next step". in this way the anthropomorphizing of other living beings is not far from appropriate! steven

steven said...

willow! i am surprised but then it has been a hot hot summer on the eastern seaboard and so perhaps even where you live the little critters are messed up and wondering what to do and when to do it. be patient willow. steven

steven said...

reya my dad told me several times that living creatures - plants, animals, rocks - all come into your presence for a reason. and you into theirs. i try and respect that knowledge when i am in the company of another living being. steven

Pauline said...

interesting musings - I often wonder what the natural world around us thinks of us...

Dan Gurney said...

Your dad's teaching is very deep. I like the fact that in this teaching rocks are included among living creatures. Keeping that teaching in mind does have the tendency to alter and soften one's view of the world for the better.

Meri said...

This brings to mind the second-grade science requirement to detach and mount a spider web against black construction paper. It had been a bad season for fleas. They'd gotten in the house via an indoor-outdoor cat and there was a new baby in the house. So there was a visit from the pest control people . . . and no spiders anywhere.

steven said...

pauline - me too. i know i'm a piece of it and then too i am so drawn to its details that i wonder what details of my passing through become of interest to the trees, the rocks, the animals. steven

steven said...

hi dan! great to see you !! school starts properly for me next tuesday but i've been setting up the class and preparing the space. the parabola of my dad's life happily included the exchange of learnings when the time arrived where trust and knowledge met and braided. he did a lot of hard work for me in terms of gathering knowledge. see you. steven

steven said...

ahh meri - the harsh realities of the natural world superimposed over our part of it. steven