Jumping spider
helped outside
turns and waves goodbye
Shook hands
with jumping spider
wordless transmission
Firefly glow
reflected in
jumping spider eyes
~~~
If you were to
wander into a
garden bathed in sunlight
with blooming pin wheel flowers
feeling lonely and wanting a friend
I’d be your jumping spider friend.
Spotting you through the branches
with telescopic tetrachromatic eyes
leaping from stem to stem
miniature hydraulics wrapped in skin and hair
I’d land on your knee
and look up at you
and wave at you
and keep you company
till the loneliness
flutters away.
~~~
A jumping spider guided through abandoned webs
a mind cleared of lingering dust.
Both of us from existences so distant
yet enjoying this moment utterly.
A gaze, a convergence, words absent
silent dialogue outside of the firmament.
Our silent play ends, you leaping into the potted steppes
I returning to the kitchen, dirty plates need cleaning.
Wall of plastic too tall and slippery
jumping spider sliding onto the mat.
A little lift, the wall is cleared,
jumping spider turning and waving goodbye.
Gazing out into the plant pot wilderness,
wondering if we will ever meet again.
~~~
Poems inspired by two actual jumping spiders, Hector and one I have not named yet. Hector and his fellow salticidae cheered me up very much one day. I really cannot talk to Hector. What remains of my high school spanish is not good enough to fully understand him. The other spider does not have a name, but if you want to suggest a name, go right ahead.
The second poem and the 3rd set of poems inspired by Richard Brautigan’s Your Catfish Friend and Meng Hao Jan’s At Lumen – Empty Monastery, Visiting Dharma – Guile with a friend from Cypress Terrace: http://skyraftwanderer.blogspot.com/2011/06/your-catfish-friend-by-richard.html
Pictures from (in order) (If you want an image taken down, just ask and I will do it): http://tantrapantry.blogspot.com/2009/05/eight-legged-freaks-of-california-and.html , http://arachnerds.livejournal.com/83985.html , http://easterncontrol.com/xe/type/435 , http://forums.thedigitalfix.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=442583&page=4
As always, feedback is welcomed.
Golden Giraffes Riding Scarlet Flamingos Through The Desert of Forever 
I particularly like the second one, in the shape of a spider head on.
Thank you for the comment.
Oh and thanks for the heads up earlier. Also I never intended it to be shaped like a spider, so thats pretty neat.
It must have been your subconscious – take another look!
This is wonderful poetry, droll, and webbed with language that brings alive the spider inside ourselves.
Thank you for the comment.
I’ve always liked spiders so it was only a matter of time before I wrote about them.
I like the way you use words here, also the content. 🙂 You might like the vaguely similar.
Thank you for the comment.
I’ll be sure to check out the link soon.
No arachnophobia for you, skyraftwanderer. The pictures, along with your words, give these creatures personality never considered by this reader. Nice work…
Thanks for the comment.
Jumping spiders are fun that way. If you come across one if you hang around long enough they will look and follow you. Its wonderful.
I’ve always found spiders to be quite beautiful and ethereal in a way, You’re poem managed to bring them to life and gave them an entire personality.
I really enjoyed reading this.
Thank you for the comment.
Its nice to see some else liking spiders. Jumping spiders work well for this kind of stuff. Those big eyes are almost dog like. Well, nearly almost.
After reading your ‘I like’ post, I recalled the ‘Jumping Spider’ poem that I’d seen before and if I didn’t say so when I read it (and it doesn’t look like I did), I love it, especially the second stanza in the shape of a spider, really effective.
Thank you for the comment.
I really didn’t intend for it to look like a spider. But I’ll take the coincidence.
I really like this poem, but I’m terrified of spiders so had to keep squinting to block out the images, but the poem was so good I was compelled to risk the glimpse of scary spiders and keep reading. Trust me this is high praise from this arachnophobe.
Thank you for the comment.
Although I’ll never understand the fear, I appreciate you braving the spiders.
I enjoyed your imagery and word choice, especially “telescopic tetrachromatic eyes” and “miniature hydraulics wrapped in skin and hair” (though I’m not entirely sure spiders can be said to have skin). I really liked the third one. Spiders are generally not a theme that I’ve seen used in much poetry and it so reminded me of my favorite Robert Frost poem.
And thank you, by the way, for liking my post. I’m rather new at blogging and was quite flattered.
Thank you for the comment.
If I remember correctly (and it was a while ago) I was working on the basis that spiders shed skin.
And thank you for the Robert Frost mention. That’s incredibly humbling.
Hey, don’t mention it. Keep at it, I’m reading yours again, and it’s all good.
smiles..i’m not a big spider fan honestly..but the way you capture that little jumping spider was way charming…nice..
smiles…this is fun a bit fanciful but also real as well…it made me smile thinking of the jumping spider keep you company, each of you giving a little of what the other needed…
I can SO appreciate a conversation with a jumping spider…I’ve been known to speak to trees utter to butterflies!! Love this:
“I’d be your jumping spider friend.”
and ALL! Fun offering!!
My love of spiders kind of ends with Charlotte, but still you did a great job. k.
I couldn’t really press the like button (although I really do) b/c I hate spiders… but I love the second one!
I commented on this back in December, but worth another comment – the images are divine, I love the jumping spiders
I couldn’t help but find this cute! Maybe it was the pictures that made me think that….but what a fantastically expressed poem capturing such fun and character that these little things often embody!
I know why people dislike/hate spiders. I don’t like them crawling on me, either. But if they do not threaten, like black widows or brown recluses, I leave them be. I even lived with a wolf spider for a while, until my first wife made me take it outside. I must admit, the friendship that you write of here, becomes special when you talk of the two worlds meeting, communicating in some way that defies reason. It’s nice to read someone who appreciates Brautigan, too. 🙂
I could easily change my mind…my fear and disgust about spiders because of this delightful work, Sky! I love that you commune with and accept all of nature …this is a lovely piece of work!
and what an image! that second one with the huge dark eyes set against an enveloping red, wow! nice, plus! 😉
Spiders are wonderful as are these
I’ll admit the whole spider theme had me jumping out of my skin…especially when accompanied by the images. I persevered all the way through nonetheless. You definitely did Hector and “to-be-named” justice. Really liked the image of them waving goodbye. Lovely collection.
Thanks for your comments! I re-read your spiders post – I’m sure I didn’t miss it the first time round…. And loved it (again?). Reminds me of Issa. The smallest thing delights as it passes through the vast blue skies of silent mind..