by Brian Reickert
On an August afternoon,
on the fringe of a riotous
wildflower garden, I crouched
to observe the mortal struggle
of a tiny green spider
and a yellow/black hornet
on the chest of Saint Francis
draped in plaster robes,
arms outstretched as if
to embrace the world
in fine strands strung
from frozen limbs
like a cat’s cradle.
A single spindly leg
firmly ensnared,
the hornet buzzed and lunged,
plunging its thorned abdomen blindly
and wildly as the spider pounced
and withdrew.
I returned later
as the light deepened
and the air cooled
to find the hornet dead
and the spider, too.
Each adhered to a strand
of the ragged web
and curled inward—
as the cicadas droned
and bats darted through
dusk’s creeping bruise.
Category: Featured, Poetry, SNHU Creative Writing, SNHU online creative writing, SNHU Student