Calilena arizonica
Funnel-web spider/Zacatera
Glenn Weyant
My Dearest Zacatera,
We both knew all along
This relationship was a trap.
And yet here we are
Delicately balanced upon deceptive threads
Myself evermore entangled and twisted
Than I’d have imagined before.
Drawn to you like moth to fire
Hiker to trail
Comet to night sky
Etcetera and so forth and so on.
I struggle with this downward spiral
My Dearest Zacatera
This inevitable trajectory we both must follow.
When I hear you coo
“Think of my children”
Believe me when I say
“I do”
Imagining them all
Ballooning away upon soft Spring breezes
Filled with me and you.
Why I find comfort in these words
Instead of abject terror
Is beyond me
My Dearest Zacatera.
Chalk it up to dharma I suppose
And that ever slaving wheel.
Yet still my mind wonders
How things came to be like this.
Long I’ve labored under the delusion
That I was the hunter
(Not the hunted)
Buzzing about proudly upon gossamer wings
In search of fresh plant flesh
To sustain me
Not you.
That is the dharma I prefer.
And if the tables were turned
My Dearest Zacatera
And I were to crave exoskeleton hidden meat
I’m sure I would have done the same
To you as you do to me
As on the morning we first met
Chilly and damp upon a perfect blanket
Of dew spread upon Sonoran wildflowers
Yet to open.
Before we met that day
I awoke fortified and resolved
To spread my wings and fly
After a lifetime of
Crawling beneath scorched earth.
That morning we met
I dared to eat a prickly pear.
That morning we met
I wore my mandibles rolled.
That morning we met
I chose to bounce upon your trampoline
Woven with diamonds moist.
An error I would make again gladly
If ever given the choice.
In my heart of hearts
I know you are not good for me
My Dearest Zacatera
And your all consuming habits
Only hasten my demise.
But there is neither malice nor joy
Simply honest and pure intentions
As you tear me apart
And drag me down
Limb by limb by limb by limb.
In this relationship our truest selves are finally revealed
My Dearest Zacatera
For it is the end of all illusion
And who could ever deny a love such as that?
Forever yours,
Cotinis (Figgy) Texana
~~~~~
Glenn Weyant has called Tucson home for nearly two decades, and regularly plays The Sonoran Desert with a cello bow and implements of mass percussion. More at: www.sonicanta.com