There is a spider on the wall.

Tw– spiders

There is a spider on the wall.

I never could stand them; spiders–
Their limbs too long, too gangly, too much,
Their slow crawl, the way they
Advance forwards, unconcerned of their tininess
Killing them would be easy–
A spray of water. A thrown shoe.
But I am weak at heart, and—
In another world, I am a spider.
I hold too much cowardice to approach,
To slip them outside in safety.
Anyways, a friend told me they can not
Survive it– they are house spiders for a reason.
I let the spider be—
I let the spider and the spiders be and
The others; they say there are too many
And you must kill them when you see them
And I lie: I do, the same vows
One would say in a wedding, turned
False confession. And you must get rid
Of these spiders, I know a way, they advise
And there are so many it scares me,
So I look away, still a child—
Invisible when my eyes are closed.
You must get rid of the spiders, they say
And I don't know how to tell them
That I am
All
Tied
Up.