Once I hid as the sparrow inside of the peacock
And as the peacock inside the sparrow
“Too much of this and not enough of that”
Whispered the voices in my head
Then I molted and followed the labyrinth
Of my fingerprint—to find my core
I climbed the ridges–they felt like mountains
And explored the valleys and scars
Just a little stick figure on a black and white print
Clamoring about, looking under boulders
Until I found the black spider
The red hourglass her only adornment
And she sedated me with her dark juice
And wrapped me in her silk
And dangled me from her web
Like a feather on a dream catcher
And the wind buffeted me
While the widow sang about the enemy
The greedy destroyers of nature/our home
But I was safe, cradled in anonymity
Then the day came when they threatened our web
Millions upon millions of cocoons burst open
And we broke free of the widow’s weave
Venomized and ready to sedate the enemy.
barb j beyers 