A Spider's Web Poem by kendall thomas

The soldier burrowed upon his back.
Above the spider waited in the rack.

Over enemies concealed among the trees,
clouds threaded among the leaves
leaving shimmering raindrops of diamonded memories.
Cautious now the soldier peered ahead.
One wrong move and then you're dead.
Something trembled, then stopped in dread;
harpy fingers played upon the silent threads.

Indifferent eyes watched from a branch that swayed.
If he had wings he too could fly away.

If only he could lie here in eternal bliss
he would gladly take the loss of honor's empty kiss,
but he must rise and journey on
though all about comrades lie cold and still and long.

The spider now has wrapped its meal
and trips back to a border fairly well concealed.

He thought had he not been born there would be no pain,
then a bullet cut the cord that bound his brain.

What once was loved and loving - son, friend or lover,
became only a lump again of cast off clay.

He fell somewhere over there
beneath the trees
beneath a spider's web bejeweled with raindrops
dripping from the leaves.