For days now, I have hand-washed 
the dishes in the sink with 
only a trickle of water. 
This, because 
of the large jumping spider 
who has taken up residence 
in one side of the drain. We 
check on her daily, try to tempt her 
out of depth, ensure 
she could climb improvised ladders 
all the way out of slick steel – if she so 
chose. 
 
I do this out of kindness. She did not 
make a choice 
to be born or carried into 
a house with two cats
(who see her as a particularly entertaining ‘snack’)
She does not know her peril; only that 
the darkness in so much bright feels 
like comfort, like safe. 
 
I do this, in our shared state
of ‘predator as unwitting prey’; as a mother 
to a probable ‘nother, hoping for 
an equal gentleness 
someday.