04-28-2013, 01:48 AM
A Spider's Purpose
My mother told me
about a spider who could spell,
who wrote in her webs
about the good in pigs.
Spiders saw secrets,
and the world listened to them.
So, I would remove leg braces,
and drag my Big Wheel to the hilltop.
With lifted feet, the pedals would egg beat
in a blur to the drugstore.
Where I would read of a boy
and the spider that changed him.
Venom mixing with seed
to undeniable harvest.
I had come to understand that speed
was not to be confused with escape,
and that a rabbit could not
outrun a caterpillar.
My mother told me
about a spider who could spell,
who wrote in her webs
about the good in pigs.
Spiders saw secrets,
and the world listened to them.
So, I would remove leg braces,
and drag my Big Wheel to the hilltop.
With lifted feet, the pedals would egg beat
in a blur to the drugstore.
Where I would read of a boy
and the spider that changed him.
Venom mixing with seed
to undeniable harvest.
I had come to understand that speed
was not to be confused with escape,
and that a rabbit could not
outrun a caterpillar.
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson