Deadly Guest Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

You sit in the center of your web,
Well fed, sure of your supremacy,
Watching the world go by
As if you were the Eye of God.

For as long as any bug can remember
You have been Death on Many Legs
Feeding on the tiny lives that fly
Haplessly into your clutches.

And so, today, you believe it has begun again
When you feel me plucking at your threads.
You wait, in no hurry to investigate,
For signs that I have panicked.

And so, practiced mimic that I am,
I pluck faster, more randomly.
You feel your appetite rise.
You take your time, stalking me.

And what do you see with your many eyes?
A creature much like any other you have eaten,
Slender, standing gingerly on six legs.
You prepare to pounce and inject your venom.

But first you feel me testing with my antenna.
In fact, it is almost like a lover’s caress,
Before I strike and take your life
As the garden looks on dispassionately.