My peripherals caught a small, translucent, tan spider,
weaving its way down my hair of the same color.

Quickly, I redirected its descent
away from my body
in an attempt to vanquish it.

Even more quickly,
the crusader pushed away from me
and rappelled to the countertop.

I then had the advantage of the higher ground
and could calculate its next move.

Deftly,
she pulled a fisherman’s line
from her abdomen
descending down the kitchen cabinet drawers
one
by
one.

At drawer number two she met her end on the bottom sole of my high tops.

Although she outplayed me,
moving and thinking faster than I,
she couldn’t compete with my comparatively large size
and my even larger pride.

That I might become her yacht,
ferrying her around to the vast sceneries of the world,
I could not stand.

My knee-**** reaction to ending her
was in reality
my fear of her ending me.

And with this in mind,
I crawled away.