Anchoress

(Pholcus Phalangoides)

Certainly six months since I’ve been thinking of it & listen
I should reach up with that long-handled duster & listen
wrap the grey threads of her palace round & round & listen
round like some goth candyfloss. Could be a year & listen
all that time she’s not eaten – I’ve not seen her eat & listen
there’s no evidence, no body farm, her musty table & listen
no banquet. Spider stays, spider subsists, metal & listen
tight inside her harp of aerials and powerlines, & listen
I see her test the long attachments of her legs & listen
make discreet adjustments of the loom she is & listen
up in her panaudicon she listens for the universe & listen
I hear her listen