Crossing a river in Africa the spider
shooting her blacksmith’s thread
of melted-down swords and armor
the world’s molten madness bridging
dangling over the water
The creature moves frantically
and to an observer miraculously
like some stressed-out downtown commuter
levitating to work
surely this is a phantasmagorical
outpouring of mighty engineering
Golden Gate sprung from a thimble
that you would never believe
if it hadn’t bored you in second grade
like the kindness of Jesus Christ
When we wake up we must scrub
our knowledge with wonder every day
we must become stupidly smart
reciting information about toenails
excited that they actually exist
See how the web spans the breadth of the river
sparkling in the sunlight
like the grid of a future city
this great cathedral of feasting
towers above the current
the spider has toiled on her masterpiece
intricate painting for the dead to be held
the bugs writhe in the snare
the spider climbs to wrap each of them
in the gloom of grace and light
Benjamin Schmitt, author of Soundtrack to a Fleeting Masculinity, lives in Seattle.
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