Talking to a Spider in the Bath
(January, 2022)
There you are in the corner of my eye
scurrying sideways
a black atom, a stain against enamel
a venomous intruder
or is that me, stepping into the
shower’s caul of steam?
I notice how careful we are
of each other
a kind of good neighbourliness
that is not love
mutual hostility or even respect
but just our way of
never touching the nerve wires
taut between us.
from: Twelve Poems Concerning the Ukraine War