Bird's Eye

Spider in the Woods

Spider in the Woods

ⓒ July 21st 2024, Olan L. Smith

A night, perchance, when I was in the deep woods,

With a torch in hand, I met myself; I was a spider

All alit by the glare, and directly in my path. It had spun

A shiny web. It was singing a song about trailer homes

And cigarettes, and spider-me was asking

How high is the water?

Not to startle tiny me I whispered gently,

"Hello, it's been a long time since we last met.

Why has it been such a tiresome trek?"

It replies to me, "Well, you see, this reincarnation stuff is 

Such an albatross. Remember when you first died?"

"Certainly, I replied. I was eighteen and all full of myself."

"Well, I had to start over as an amoeba.

Remember, a lifetime is a lifetime; time is relative

From your perspective. Next, I was an ant; they are warring bastards.

It was one life after the next, trying hard to avoid missing

A turn and ending up a boulder. That's bad karma, let me tell you.

Turn into stone and become eternal, with no legs and no mouth.

The best you can hope for is to turn into gravel and become dust."

I asked the eight-legged me, "What can I do for you?"

"You can squish me, and I can move further up." 

I reply, "No." I took a twig and gently moved it aside.