Swept Away

Ok. So you told me about the spiders
(with a certain voiced glee) that summer
means spiders and black flies. Last week

I looked up right there in the corner--
noiseless and patient, just like Emily said.
She is a big spider girl, big with spider

children (hundreds no doubt). I thought
about Charlotte's Web and the instrinsic
goodness of all creatures, and spiders eat

flies after all. She's a mother-to-be; I'm
a feminist, so I smiled benignly. But I did
watch her. Benevolence is one thing, but

she's really big, and oh those babies
would probably get into everything
like little ones do but in their case

the bed, my clothes, maybe even me.
This, frankly, is a disquieting thought.
Me in the peace of my night's repose

and those babies, awake, bright-eyed,
wanting to try out their creeping, no
mama left to show them the way. Maybe

they'd want to bond with me. This morning
Mama had moved, right over the computer,
right over my head. She's nesting I know

getting ready for D-day, so baser me won
out came the broom. It wasn't love or passion,
but she was nonetheless swept away .