Spider

 

By John I. Blair

As I leaned attentively
Listening to the speaker of the day
Talk about a life that was not frightening,

I noticed on the shiny floor
Beside his foot
A tiny spider
Barely bigger than a bean
But black as soot.

It wandered slow across the wood
Apparently in search of food,
Oblivious to the room so full of humans.

I could not keep myself from wondering
If the spider did not see
That the massive fabric pier
Next to its octuple of eyes

Was in fact a leg
That with a single careless movement
Could squash it flatter than a leaf,
Too fast for grief.

With my cane
I gently nudged the spider,
Hoping to divert its path
Into a safer arc;

But it refused to harken
To my hint and wandered
Farther into jeopardy,
Aiming down the aisle
Between other human legs.

Then fate delivered safety;
Its route brought it to the door
And thence into the nearby kitchen

Where, hopefully,
It found a host of insects
More suitable to greet
Than a size 12 brogan would have been.

©2025 John I. Blair, 1/26/2025

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