I was walking the garden, today,
admiring colors and shapes,
when I came upon the cobweb;
I stopped, transfixed in thought.

It was strung with delicate force,
a power, hanging in the air, collecting
bits of fluff from a dandelion.

And as I stood there, looking at that web,
I felt like one of those pieces of fluff,
caught and dangled in mid-air.

I saw no pattern, no precision of equation,
just inconsequential fluff, captured
and strung randomly, almost – happily.

Then a breeze came up, and the fluffs danced,
and started shivering and shuddering. Because,
they knew, then, they were not free.

As the spider watched.

Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen
© Copyright 8/8/04