Argiope

(Hill Country in August)

(2008 Texas Poetry Calendar Dos Gatos Press)

She waits,

Spread in governing tension

To the sensory threads,

Poised, where her geometric universe

Fans in spanning rays,

Finite points, line segments

Measured to the millimeter,

Precise polygons contrived in diligence. 

She breathes with the wind,

Undulates to its power.

She rides, she sails

Until some vulgar blunder

Flings the shimmering strands in disarray,

Her temple ruined.

She spins again.

Spins and sings.

She locks and links

Her endless seams

In tedious ceremony.