I’ve Made Peace with the Spider

By Amanda Roth

I’ve made peace with the spider who made a home 
in my home, tucked between the kettle and the fridge.  

In the mornings, we bow a little to each other
while I sip tea and she eats a homespun meal. 

Some days, I tell stories and pretend that she can hear. 
Once, because she is in the business of webs, 

I told her that the present is the past is the future, and 
she blinked all eight eyes at once, as if to say, 

I know. 
See, I say, 

tomorrow, my grandmother kept a jar 
of widows and today, she loosened the lid. 

Yesterday, my mother will take down a web before it is 
built and today, my son asked what is a spider? 

while the other, not yet born, walked hand-spiders 
up and down my arms. There are spiders resting on each 

of my shoulders and I bow under the weight. Where 
the webs remain, how many bodies will be caught. 

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Amanda Roth (she/her) is a mother, writer, and folklorist living in Central Texas. Her work can be found in Portland Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Kissing Dynamite, Jet Fuel Review, MAYDAY, and elsewhere. Follow her at https://msha.ke/amandarothpoetry