The Crying Spider Journal

Well, hello there, dear visitor to my realm.

Oh...sorry, did I startle you? Please, don't mind me. I'm just a spider, living my very temporary and dream-like existence.

You've likely met my brother, The Smiling Spider. He always got more attention than little old me. Funny that. I've always felt he looked a little untrustworthy, with that sinister little grin of his. Some say it's playful, some say it hides ill intent. I just see it as untrustworthy, but then I would say that, wouldn't I? Little old me with the sad countenance.

I have feelings, you know? Does anyone stop to wonder why I am sad? Is it perhaps the fact that my brother sits around all day grinning like a cheshire cat, altogether unaware that aside from our existance being extended to the funky etchings old Redon made of us, we will die eventually when he dies.

We are merely figments of the man's albeit amazing but finite imagination. As finite as his life is in its current form.

So, before you think only unkind and mean things about me, or even the grinning idiot that is my brother, based purely on our appearances, think about the spiders behind the "strange and unsettling" images.

Do you see a downcast woman sitting on a park bench and think "look at that ugly thing, I best walk carefully past her, avoiding eye contact".

Hands up anyone that said "yes"? Bunch of savages, the lot of you!

It's more likely that you would feel for the person, have empathy and sympathy, even if only from afar (I know too well how tricky it can be approaching strangers even when you have the best of intentions).

So, why should I be treated any differently? That sounds like some old-fashioned sexism or, if I were male...a toxic view of what it means to be a man!

I could be sad because a thief made off with my latest egg sac or because the sheer weight of my limited existence got to me.

Regardless of the reasons, I'm entitled to my feelings.

Don't jump to conclusions just because you see my round and plumpious, hairy bod (I'm damn fine by today's standards!) and my ten spindle-like legs.

Rather than exclaiming "Oh god, look at that spider! It's hideous - it has 10 legs!" Why not praise my individuality.

Odilon saw my true beauty. That is why he made these etchings of my brother, myself and many more like us. That's what I believe anyway.

One man's monster, is another man's beautiful beast. Something like that...

Take a moment to observe the crying spider

As it comes out from hiding in the larder

What has made it so downcast and blue?

I wonder if it would make you sad too?

To experience a life stuck inside a mind

With no button to pause, replay or rewind

Look past the ten legs and hairy fat bod

Put away that stick, there's no need to prod

This dear little spider needs love and respect

Not vicious disregard or cold hearted neglect

Spiders, should never be judged on just the exterior

Spiders, like books, should be judged on the interior

If the crying spider were real and not just artwork

She would feast on flies and leave you to your work

The next time you see a spider, give it a free pass

Don't try to smite it with a boot or poisonous gas

Remember, instead, the crying spider's wise decree

Love all the creatures, ten legged or not that you see.

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Remember The Crying Spider by Paul Stewart

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Thank you very much for reading. This is a companion piece to The Smiling Spider Journal for the Painted Prose Challenge in the Art Community here on Vocal.