The Fourteen Most Frequently Asked Questions About Spiders

 

 

What is the jeweled spider?

What large spider has three yellow stripes?

Are grass spiders bad?  Do spiders come from grass?

How do you say “spider’s web” if you want to say it in French?

Why do you open my mouth while I am sleeping?

How tall is the biggest spider in the world?

What do you call two spiders who just got married?

Do spiders spin an endless silk?

How long does a scorpion live with its parents?

What does it mean when you dream about spiders?

Are all the giant spiders in Canada now?

Where is the little white moustache spider found?

Do wolf spiders keep their eggs in the sun?

What should I do about this spider in my house?

Note: this is a poem collaged from a much, much longer list of questions internet searchers asked about spiders, and related topics.

Here Is Clean

We've had straightforward poetry, some visual art in the mix, and now Richard Fox presents his adopted poem in a sound format.  It's got a beat, you can dance to it.   And if you like it, you can download the thing for free, because Richard is a giver, and because Lives of the Spiders shies away from commerce.

Covered in Gestures Like Tattoos

Meet Heather Abner. Or rather, meet an abandoned poem that she took in and fostered and disciplined and altered to suit her will. You can find out more about Heather and find links to more of her work on her blog.  Many thanks to Heather for being part of the Abandon A Poem/Adopt A Poem Project. Stay tuned for more contributions.  It's not too late to adopt a poem yourself.  Just email me at robmc100@yahoo.com.  If you pass out rigorous examination, you will be sent a poem.  Actually, it will appear on your doorstep in a basket, whimpering like an unhappy mouse.  Your job will be to make that rodent smile.

The Experience You Have When You Don’t Get What You Want

What do you want? she says.

What do you want?

It comes back at her.

The problem is

he never wanted anything from her:

            no word

            or kiss

            not even a gesture.

She was all gesture—

covered in them like tattoos.

As though they could say what she couldn’t--

what she wanted.

She tells you she gave up on romance

and she means it.

She bought a dog, instead.

And when you wind up getting
what you want,

well--

the dog is what she wanted.

A third offering from Jen Besemer

As she contributes to the Abandon/Adopt A Poem Project.  Where are the rest of y'all?  Send your adoptees in, after you have made them all pretty and mostly behaving.  Thanks, Jen!

More Alchemy from Jen Besemer

The second of Jen Besemer's responses to the Abandon a Poem/Adopt a Poem Project:

The First Returns from the Adopt/Abandon a Poem Project

The Swifty McSwift Award for quickest return for the Abandon/Adopt a Poem Project goes to the ever-amazing Jen Besemer, writer and visual artist, who used the poor waif-poem she took in to aid in the creation of three visual poems.  I'll dole out one per day, as I like to keep you on the edge of your desk chair in anticipation for as long as I can.

On the Reading Shelf

I have been delving into Jenifer Karmin's amazing aaaaaaaaaaalice.   And Michael Dickman's Flies. Just got Your Father on The Train of Ghosts and am looking forward to reading more from it. Which reminds me that I want to re-read G.C. Waldrep's Archicembalo. And I think I am ready to tackle Anne Carson's Nox.  More about these in the future. In other news, the tulips on the back porch have opened today, and despite the plastic tag that promised white flowers, they are red as a cape worn by a little girl on a path in the woods.