Sheltered

a spider awakens, his feet wet from the floods

he crawls out from his dwelling, where the earth and bark meet

to try to rise above the flowing waters.

he was ready for this, the winds told him it was coming,

the skies whispered to him

The clouds are getting heavy and soon they will fall

he grasps the tips of the leathered bark,

pulling his body upward, leg by leg by leg by leg….

he is pelted by cannonballs of water as he climbs

the taste of acid and metal a familiar flavor,

he cries out in pain, and the tree cries with him.

for she feels his pain on her delicate skin.

he pushes through the heavy void with fierce determination,

breathe, you must pace yourself

she whispers as she broadens her branches

stretching her leaves wide, holding firm in the fervent wind

breathe, you must keep going, I’ll try to keep you dry

her voice is the last note on a piano in a silent room

and he trudges onward, each spindle of a leg shaking madly

withered and frail he rises to her lowest branch,

clinging on as the winds rage around him

she moves a limb to cover him,

an incandescent shelter to cover his weary head

he rests his head against her jagged edges

waiting patiently as the clouds go on their way.

and as it always does, the sun returns once more

drying away the pain and the trauma with its rays

he peers over the edge of his stable branch,

looking down from whence he came,

and marvels at the new life emerging from the earth below him.