The Spider

[blank|verse]

The Spider

The spider appeared on the wrong day,
running up the morning walls
the wrong way.

The many ways the spider saw the walls
made us reconceive our ways
of mornings and of walls,

made us reperceive ourselves, our ways.
So we became the spider running up the walls;
and nothing now was wrong, not ways nor days.

[Hawkman]

Hi b/v This is very enjoyable, although I am wondering what the right way might be for a spider to run up a wall. Perhaps this spider runs sideways, like a crab, or perhaps backwards. ;) Nice to see you venturing into light verse. You will be relieved to know that your poem hasn't driven me to run up, or down, the walls, nor indeed to fly off the handle. :D

I particularly liked the reperceive/reconceive internal rhyme.

Live and be well - H

[Lykren]

I quite like this. It reminds me very much of Wallace Stevens, and also of Robert Frost's poem A Considerable Speck. I also enjoyed the description of walls being 'morning walls'. A very smooth technique throughout. I commend you.

[angliholic]

Very original creative and wise read

[virtuoso]

A nice proverb in verse! Another verse could have the spider inspecting its course, and, the corollary, humans reflecting on the length and breadth of their days.

[blank|verse]

Thanks for the replies, Hawk, Lykren, angliholic and virtuoso.

Thanks Hawk – while I don’t see this as a piece of light verse per se, I hope it’s playful or perhaps lighthearted… although after reading your puns, I almost regret writing it. :) And the ‘way’ in which the spider moves is up to the reader to determine, but of course, ways can refer to either manner or direction.

I'll overlook your faint praise, Lykren, :) but you’re right to pick up a Wallace Stevens influence; one of the things I enjoy about his poetry is its playfulness, and his ‘smooth technique’, albeit one that doesn’t use rhyme very often. I’d not read Frost’s ‘A Considerable Speck’, so thanks for pointing that out; in turn, it reminded me of his spider-featuring ‘Design’.

Glad you liked the poem, angliholic. And thanks for the suggestions, virtuoso, although I’m happy that the poem says all it needs to and it would be difficult to break the form as it stands as a self-contained unit. Any longer and it might outstay its welcome. Thanks again.

[Lykren]

I didn't mean my praise to be faint! I'm sorry it came off that way, because I found myself wishing I could do some of the things you did here - plus, Wallace Stevens is one of my favorite poets, so any comparison to him is definitely strong praise from me. :)

[blank|verse]

No offence taken, Lykren, it was just your opening comment 'I quite like this' made me smile. And you're absolutely right, it's a massive compliment to draw comparisons with Stevens and Frost, so I appreciate the comments. Thanks again. :)

[Haunted]

The technique here is reminiscent of Clouds, the slight shifting of words and movements by extension which I found so interesting. This one has a very different feel, a poem that's not very serious about itself, which is quite a delightful departure from pieces that try too hard to be poems. Nevertheless it makes one think. I don't know about becoming a spider running up walls but I sure have that uneasy feeling that I'm caught in a web and can't get out.