The Spider

A confessional poem for last year's American Lit class... Not quite Sylvia Plath, but then, people would be rather scared if it was, wouldn't they?

My tangled web of thoughts is shaking:

The spider has arrived

And schemes to catch me with her venom

If she catches me alive.

What am I doing in the street?

The people who walk by me throw

Sharp glances and sharp knives.

Or am I imagining them?

My feet are bleeding; I’ve been walking too long

On fragments of shattered glass and shattered dreams.

My friends throw roses at me

And they turn into rocks.

My prison is flesh and bone and reservations.

What is the meaning of lift

If I can’t get off the ground?

The sky is no limit, it is the floor.

The past is gone.

I read “lived” backward and “live” forward,

But what is the future?

I am no seer, but I am seared forever.

Fire is warmth and light.

It is of heaven, not hell.

I hold fire, it does not scorch me.

I hold it, but I do not understand it.

The fortress is falling. What is below?

A river waits, rushing anxiously

Calling again and again and again.

I know its name and I bless it, curse it.

My song is fast and slow and longer

Than the nails on the chalkboard in my head.

The words are jumbled.

Euphoria and pandemonium are brothers.

Where do I go?

The road is crumbling; the only way to go is up.

 The ladder is weak, it is my only chance.

Whose hand will save me when it breaks?

Author's Note

Is a consistent theme apparent? I do have one, but it may or may not be obvious... If I have told you what it is, please do not mention it. I just wish to know if there appears to be a consistent theme. Any other pointers would be great, as well.

Reviews

[sorentense]

I still cannot find a consistent theme, no. But I love your phrasing and the twists you make with your language - such as 'reading "lived" backward and "live" forward'. While there is not exactly a conventional meter, the poem does flow well and is absolutely beautiful.