Mailbox Spider
I call him Fred.
I greet him now this way,
“Well, hiiiiii there Fred!“
My daughter rolls her eyes…
When Fred made his
first surprising reveal,
jerky movements
and impossibly quick,
I, of course, screamed
closed the mailbox swiftly
Apologized…
When I thought I’d crushed him
I looked around
Wondering who saw my
interaction…
With the mini mail troll
Then… reopen
To gather sealed up stress
Dramatically,
I keep my body back
Just far enough…
From my fuzzy new friend
Who now just stares…
Shew, I didn’t crush him!
At least not yet…
For now he still greets me,
with a knowing,
a mutual respect.
And in spite of
the ongoing eyerolls,
I spied “mail talk,”
And I heard her say, “Fred!”
9 thoughts on "Mailbox Spider"
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Just an edditing thought to keep in mind…Decide whether you’re going to capitalize the start of every line, or if lines which continue sentences should start with lower case. It’s entirely up to you! 🙂
Quite an engaging topic. Some years back I had a glorious web on a drain pipe. I kept an eye on the inhabitant. Then I was really miffed when a repair person walked by and swiped it down. I kept my mouth shut, but I wanted to yell, “That was someone’s home!”
Thank you! I have trouble with this at times… When I am ending thoughts/statements vs entering a “new” statement/thought.
I am aware that lines should be consistently one way or the other. But when I am attempting to differentiate/separate the next thought, but keep the 4-6-4-6… I wasn’t sure what to do. I am open to suggestions though!
So visceral! A whirlwind of a poetic ride. I love Fred– and this poem!
Cute. When we lived in the country wasps would set up residence in our mailbox. Getting the mail was a daily challenge! A Fred would have been more welcome.
I will take Fred ANY DAY over wasps!!
Lol, love Fred. Reminds me of a gecko I named Killer during the pandemic.
😆 love that! Killer!
Love how the poem turns back to the daughter at the end, and what she reveals of herself. Lovely.
Reminds me a little of “Allowables” by Nikki Giovanni. I like a good spider poem. I enjoyed the framing of the eye rolls around a spider with several eyes and the mutual respect eye contact in the middle. Intentional or not, it brings out a theme of seeing things as they are and as we are.