Sometimes (Beside Her)
I slide back
the shower curtain
with the intention
of becoming
more cleanly
but in the tub
discover
an eight-legged
entity
of varying size
and realize
the entire ordeal
would prove
too exhausting
anyway
so I set in
a thin
cardboard
bridge
from floor
to topside
a spider off-ramp
and check back
later
to see if
they caught
their exit
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Love this. I lived in a house in northern Henry County (around the corner from Wendell Berry’s farm), and wolf spiders, who look scary but are beneficial in the environment, loved my bathtub. They didn’t appear daily, but their random visits always caused me to gasp.
So, your poem is incredibly relateable — probably for many folks. And you’ve said this so delightfully and with kindness.