THE SPIDER'S SURRENDER
Behold, we spin our webs at your command
And frighten humans who don't understand
We are but "catching dinner," to be blunt.
They do the same -- at every restaurant.
Those humans frighten us too -- by their size,
Their hair, their fingered hands, their ears, their eyes,
The way they run, then peer from side to side,
Intent on unrelenting spidercide.
Oh, teach us not to dread the otherness
You've built into your world, great Creatress,
For instance, for us eight legs are a must,
Yet some have two, or twelve! One must adjust.
We'll love them: woman, man, or octopus,
However dreadful they may seem to us.
from the forthcoming book Prayers of 100 Animals A to Z, by William Cleary
TOP
|
