silk has two forms

you know that stiffening cold

that likes to creep into your house in the winter

and make its nest

like spiders do in mid-summer?

i never know how it manages to stick,

like the tenacious webs of widows and wall spiders

when i keep my room at a steady seventy degrees.

i find it is still necessary

to transform myself into

a cocoon of soft sherpa and slippers

to stay warm.

i hate when spiders find their way inside.

i always keep my windows closed and lined with the smell

of lemons to ward them off.

maybe they find me because they like the sight of my spite for them.

or, maybe, the spiders that do find their way inside,

stand out to me more than the butterflies do

that pass me

on summer strolls.

how focused we can become on what makes us shiver,

even when we shelter ourselves from the wind.

if only i shed my cocoon.

maybe one day I will find a way to keep the cold out,

and I can loosen the clutch on my comforting cocoon

that I see now, has been spun to a web.

-silk has two forms