A Memory Forever Poem by Douglas Scotney

Because of the smell of paint
in my kitchen
(still with no stove) ,
I was headachy and bitchin'.

To counteract it,
though it was early spring
and its sweet flowers were droppin',
after brushing away a spider
and its webs,
I put a potted pittosporum
in the alcove of the stove.

That deadly spider, the redback,
is black with a warning red stripe
along its upper back.

I held one in my palm once -
infinitely more
by mistake than less.
It didn't bite,
and I reflexed it off.

It is beautiful.
Its nest is a mess.