Såsom i en Spegel

1.

Såsom i en spegel and in medias res the spider creates

heaven and earth and skirts across the pond’s mirror cloud.

And feet press into velvet moss, and the hill and sky,

the silhouettes of litter-birds as areole the bare limbs of elms, 

and apple blossoms fall like flakes of sun on a stream’s edge.

Sweep.

I’m through the mullion slat, the hazy glass, in an upstairs room.

Adjust to shadow. I’ve seen spiders through slits

of worn wallpaper, beyond the cracked plaster hiding muffled voices

that guide my day like bible verses. Dance. The closet door latch

hangs loose in its untrue jamb, held back by pinch of oak friction.

I reach.

2.

Where have you gone off to now? Stroll the shore while your sheep

bleat their malcontent; hoist your overloaded egg bag

to mount the stile; even splash ankle-deep in the cold clear

to confuse the packhounds. I’ve no mind for this darkness,

nor desire, nor shame, for I’ve heard the crackle of a bush in flames

and quarried stone to lay out a garden path. I’ve pressed seed

into dirt pot, raised window-box sprouts by force of will. Now,

the voices have stopped and I’m alone again.

I’m looking for your clutch of arms, soothing voice. I’m

calling your name to the trees, scanning the sea

for a glimpse of you in the skiff. I’ve even lowered myself

into the clutchhold of that broken boat out past the jetty,

and gone womb-fetal in the dark slant of a shipwright’s dream.

Reach me in the dark.

3.

At dawn, a bird wing flaps in the sun. I sit before toast and juice.

The floor stands in need of sweep, the cobwebs to be dusted. I

wait on the hard wooden bench watching pulp settle

through the glass. Darkly,

shadow spiders wrestle in the cracks and corners

of silvered mirrors. My toast has gone cold, softened with smear

of butter. A helicopter drops anchor out in the yard.

You came to me in that hold and held me through a cold storm,

your skin gnarled and twisted as tree bark. In my dark unsure,

you penetrated me with light and kind. Now,

my mot-valise is packed in the foyer, waiting

on eight eager legs. I’m allowed a last hair-check in the mirror.