POEM — Absent Parents

Long-swaddled in finest silk – oh look!

The eggs are hatching!

Such exciting news, I’m sure

The parents would be proud

As each hatchling made their way into the world,

Eight long legs wriggling and jaws snapping,

Fierce and fury for all they come across, dragging silken lines behind,

Preparing to launch

An adorable multitude as they scurry across the window sill,

And look, that large one just ate his brother – or sister –

and there goes another again

 

Now all busy spinning silk into fine cloth

I’m not certain

If the parents would look upon infanticide in such a fond light

But, since they are long dead,

They missed the opportunity to see their beloved offspring

Preparing for take-off;

Warm breezes catching silk, and lifting

Tiny predators

Skyward.

*

Carly Zee is a writer who enjoys fine things and delights in the absurd.