Just to the left of the dying lavender,
there is a castle of a web, fit for
nothing short of a king. That’s
just what I expect the spider is, too: a king.
His galt is royal, regal, intentional.
He spins crystalline twine day after night
after day, laying each ivory wing to his throne
carefully, one after another. I suspect
that he was not always a king, though.
I think he used to be a ballroom dancer,
gliding from one web to another, each
gnat a captive audience forced to watch
his debonair sways. The dew on the silk
floorboards are as much props for his performance
as they are leaked tears from Mother Nature: not
an obstacle, but a bouquet of daisies
crying “Bravo! Bravo! Spin another web,
and tell me just one more story.”

Jaden Fong is a Junior at Santa Clara University, studying English and French. Born and raised in Carmichael, California, he has poetry and prose published in the Moorings Literary Arts Magazine and The Acorn Magazine. He currently works editing poetry for publication in The Santa Clara Review. Visit his instagram: @jad3nnnn