the six-legged spider

there is a six legged spider in my bathroom

i first saw it in my kitchen

hanging around the sink

one night when i turned on the light 

it scuttled under a table

just in time to avoid my foot

the next morning it wasn’t there

and I didn’t think about it for a while

but then I saw it lurking near the sink again

i began to think of it as a friend

i hoped it would eat the gnats and flies

that swoop as i pour the salad dressing

then again i didn’t see it for a few days

and i wondered if it had left or died

i looked under the table 

and looked under the toaster

and then i saw it in the bathroom

clinging to the shower door

from the kitchen to the bathroom

was quite a journey for the spider

through the carpet around the sleeping dogs

under the dining room table a television

and through several closed doorways

to the opaque glass of the shower door

it has been about a week since it made the move

and everyday it moved a bit here a bit there

until yesterday when it moved to the ceiling

and now it hangs a few inches above my head

as i enter and leave the shower

i glance up each time

i wonder what happened to its legs

i wonder where it will go next

will it find its way out the back door

to the real world where spiders roam

or will it wait above my head

until it withers and joins the legs that are gone

jeg.

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