THE SPIDER
[a poem about tale-telling and telling tales]


 
 

The Spider
[a poem about tale-telling and telling tales]
By Zachar Laskewicz

1       

So willingly we’re trapped within
The web of lies we tend and spin.

2       

When Spinning lies, we’re trapped not free;
And still it’s life’s great industry!

3       

When weaving isn’t used for lies,
It can morph larvae into flies;

4       

A caterpiller’s silken cloth
Is spun so it becomes a moth.

5       

But as spinners we’re all drawn by fear;
That’s why we keep on spinning here...

6       

Cocooning ever smaller caves,
The silky darkness makes us slaves.

7       

On paths dug as we scratch and crawl,
We tell the stories etched on walls.

8       

Our legends tell of victims grieved:
those lost when they refused to weave.

9       

Such myths we thus believe are true
(when our true fear remains taboo).

10     

Our tales of spiders just disguise
The purpose of our complex lies.

11     

As such our stories do endeavour
To keep us spinning here forever.

12     

With thread spun on a burning spool,
We need to use our fear as fuel.

13     

The legends tell of monstrous eyes:
He who looks upon them dies!

14     

One says a spinner vainly tried
To escape the huge arachnid stride;

15     

But poisoned bite forced her to stay –
While still alive he ate his prey...

16     

But the irony that amuses most
This spider is in fact our host!

17     

We choose to live within confines
Our cells on demarcated lines.

18     

It makes most sense to fear this beast
(denying that he’s there the least).

19     

I say it now and listen well;
It’s no spun story that I tell:

20     

I snuck into the spider’s lair
To simply find him waiting there!

21     

He has no legs; he cannot run
And therefore can’t chase anyone.

22     

A glassy eye drifts with malaise;
You see his lobeless, empty gaze...

23     

No fangs?  No bile? No evil leer?
So what’s this spider we all fear?

24     

If you into his eye did stare
You’d see yourself reflected there...

25     

And thus we see our fatal flaw –
He is ‘The Truth’, no less, no more...

 

By Zachar Laskewicz
30 October 2012
Ghent (Belgium)
(last updated 15 November 2012)

*Based on a shorter less complex poem that unfortunately was lost after a data crash and no one was able to find a printed version.

 

1201-SPI
THE SPIDER (Poem by Zachàr Laskewicz)

 

 

© May 2008 Nachtschimmen Music-Theatre-Language Nightshades, Ghent (Belgium)
Send mail to zachar@nachtschimmen.eu with questions or comments about this website.


Last modified:
16 May 2013
zzz

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The Spider