KEIRA LYNN DODD

I, Spider

 

Like an idle spider, I drift upward--

     the tug of invisible threads pulling me

          towards the heavenly spheres.

 

Without my knowing, I hang listless

     on a line stretching from my body

          to infinity.  The black gulf opens above,

     and only gravity keeps me pointed down,

my million eyes fixed uselessly

     on the ground as I arise by infinitesimal

          degrees, up into the mystery, one that I

               put no work into solving.

 

I live by inertia, a tiny creature

     caught in a web I didn't make,

          despite the lie of what I am.

     I am not fooled.  I wait for nothing.

I just drift along the silver strands,

     heading skyward with the crowd,

          all of us dumb with the thought

               that we are larger than a dot---

 

                    but the pull teaches us

                         how little we weigh,

                              how little effort it would take

                                   to yank us upward

                                        into eternity.